--------- opposed abstaining carries. Number eight, public hearing. There is none. Number nine is public session from the floor. This public session is for those wishing to make a comment of three minutes or less regarding an agenda item. Please line up at the microphone and state your name, municipality, and agenda topic for the record. Motion to open the floor for public comment.
Some moved. Commissioner Henderson moves. Deputy director space seconds. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. Oppos carries. Anyone from the floor on agenda topics only. Uh good evening Ken Collins Andover
Township. Regarding resolution S concerning the proposed Kio Dwire building sale. I'm here tonight to voice my opposition to this resolution authorizing the sale of the Kio Dwire building to the highest bidder and to ask all of the county commissioners to vote against this proposed sale. While
we are in this building holding this meeting, homeless people are sitting across the street on the Newton Green. The Kio Dwire building rep uh presents the perfect opportunity for housing the homeless and putting the services our homeless citizens require in a place where they are readily available to
those in need. In addition, it would be a perfect location for lowincome housing as many Ken just one second. Sorry to interrupt you. Get your time back. Just move that microphone a little way. I moved it too close. Sure. Thank you. Sorry.
In addition, it would be a perfect location for lowincome housing as many of our citizens who live on low fixed incomes also do not have a car and require the things they need to be within a walkable distance. Many lowincome residents also um utilize
county provided transportation. So centralizing the location where they reside would likely reduce those costs to the county. Housing homeless and low-income residents in the Kio Dwire building would probably result in a kinder, gentler Spring Street. Selling the Kio Dwire building to the highest
bidder is a short-sighted mistake, but should you choose to do so, the proceeds from the sale should go directly back to the county taxpayers who were all fleeced for more than $26 million when Parker Space and his fellow commissioners fumbled the Sussex solar
swindle. A scam which Parker Space approved and is responsible for implementing. A scam nobody has has been held accountable for to this date. If you're going to sell the Kio Dwire building, the right thing to do is give the proceeds back to us taxpayers. It
won't come close to making up for our $26 million loss, but it's a start. To quote White House press secretary Carolyn Levit as she gaslighted the entire world yesterday, this was obvious to any person with a shred of common
sense. Um, this right here is the is Matthew Boxer's report on the Sussex County solar swindle. This is a whitewashing job purposely designed to hide the culpability of the county commissioners and officials who are responsible for losing our $26 million.
Mr. Boxer said he had identified legal actions that could be taken that may recoup some of those financial losses. But to date, I don't believe Sussex County has acted on those recommendations nor recouped any of the millions of dollars that county officials allowed to be stolen from us, the taxpayers. Parker Space has never
been held accountable for his failures regarding the solar scandal. Sussex County residents deserve an updated report on the solar scam. Has anything been done to recoup the 26 million, have we gotten any of that money back? How much and what was done with that money?
I think that now, eight years after Matthew Boxer's whitewashing, county residents deserve clear and honest answers to these questions. It's all just been brushed under the rug. Time. I thought you were going to give me the time back. You know what? You're right. I apologize. You are right. You should get
about 15 seconds back. Thank you. Don't sell the Kio Dwire building. The county owns it. Use it to help our citizens in need. If you won't do that, how about if you give us our money back? Your predecessors took 26 million from county taxpayers and lost
it. Give it back. [Applause] John Snider Sanderson. I have questions on the resolutions and P. I never heard
of these things before. Omnissa and VMware renewal license and 116,000. And then the next one's related to that for updates for 67,000. This is all for the clerk's office for his uh required backup of servers,
software, equipment. They're all out of date, so we have to replace those. Thank you. Good intro. My name is Sahel Cops. I am the acting Sussex County prosecutor. I'm also a Sussex County resident. So, I did want
to just come up and speak to you a little bit about resolution S, but uh more so I've just asked that you give certification, which I'm sure all of you will. Um, but first, I do want to thank all of you for the time and care all of you spend in ensuring that all this room are always
in the best interest of the community. that it is a very difficult job and you have a lot of interest to manage and balance uh when you vote on these decisions. My current role as the acting county prosecutor and previously in the
other positions I held within the office uh I've come to appreciate the support that we have received from the county and the commissioners allow us to serve the community as the chief law enforcement office in the
county. Um I do there is resolution S regarding the potential sale of the county jail and while it is something I completely agree it is perview of the commissioners and county government toide upon and nothing that I would ever
try to overstep the function of the county prosecutor's office. I would simply request that some consideration be given to securing a new location or a plan be placed made regarding relocating the
prosecutor's office. Uh part of any decision that is made regarding the jail. U this is something that I have discussed with the leadership uh within the detectives PBA in our office and we do have a unified position on this that
the office is in great need of relocation and more space. My understanding that the prosecutor's office had two structures uh at 1921 High Street since about 2010. So about 15 years the number of employees has
grown. Technology as well as laws and directive have now changed our responsibilities requiring us now to have more space needed for evidence investigative units and computers. Uh despite all these efforts uh we have just outgrown the space and on top of
that the poor working conditions of the buildings uh are generally well known uh and have been constant issues that have to be dealt with. The office has a unique position within the county that uh requires oftentimes agencies and representatives from state government
and other counties to visit it. I would think that it would be an important uh reflection of our county to put our best foot forward and to ensure that our buildings are proper uh and are a fair representation of our county. Um I know the question of securing a new location
has been a topic of discussion in the past not only by me but my predecessor and it is no easy task finding a location that addresses these needs as well as ensuring the safety of all the employees within the prosecutor's office. I I know and trust that all of you are
that part and I would just ask that you all keep it in mind in making any decision. Just so in in reference to what you're talking about and as you said, we've been in discussion for at least four years prior to you being uh interm and and so on and so forth. We understand
100%. I think the commissioner board up here, me being here the longest has been given a bag of called emptiness at this point. Um but we're working towards that. We also have an obligation to the taxpayer not to raise their taxes and do what we can with the budget that we have. So, we did
not forget about you. We sat down. I looked you in the eye and told you we did not forget about you and you have not been forgotten. I appreciate that. Thank you. Good evening. Kevin Olir from Lafayette Township talking about item 15 resolution S on
the jail. Uh, the statute authorizing the sale of property includes verbiage that property not needed for public use can be sold. Commissioner Henderson a few meetings ago gave a compelling presentation on how Essex County repurposed its jail and how Sussex could do the very same thing. I have reviewed
a few years of commissioner meetings and see that the county leases at at least two office condos in the Cochran House. Uh, additionally, it is well known that the conditions of several county buildings, particularly the prosecutor's office, are in deplorable condition. I recall uh reports for years of employees
filing environmental workers compensation claims due to the condition of several county facilities. Uh the county has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to make repairs that only provide a temporary fix. Recently the county uh the county purchased a standalone bank building for a million
dollars. Better planning is needed to address the future facility needs of the county. A more cohesive, long-standing approach should be undertaken rather than peacemeal fixes, lease arrangements, or additional acquisitions. The solution to facilities
uh needs is already owned by the county, and respectfully, it is shortsighted to consider selling. Resolution S allows the administrator's full discretion to schedule an auction sale. The statute concerns the sale of county property requires a public hearing within 90 days before the proposed sale. Uh and in my
opinion, resolution S should be limited to disclosing the reports uh to the public and scheduling the hearings so proper discussion can occur on the merits of selling the property. This obviously is a big decision for the future of the county and including provisions setting parameters for the
auction are premature in my opinion. I do see the resolution calls for disclosure of the report outlining the advantages and disadvantages and benefits and detriments of selling the jail. And I look forward to seeing that report and hope it isn't just a general self-serving document, rather one that
has proper opinion by experts quantifying the requisite quote economic value of the asset to be divested. No appraisal reports provided comps have been released to the public on the value of the property. I know from experience that sometimes appraisal reports don't
have to be released to the public to protect negotiations. Uh but if the report can be released, uh in this case, it probably should be. This property is very re uh unique in its location, making it much more valuable to the county. I wonder if the evaluation considered the salvage value of fixtures
in the jail. Sussex County sold the homestead in 2020 by 2012 for 7.8 million and I understand the money was placed in an account for future use by the county. That amount could go a long way in beginning repurposing the building. Retaining ownership would allow this county to manage construction
and repurposing by building it out on an asped basis over a number of years. Thank you. [Applause] My name is Diane RDE Hampton Township.
I'm on a resolution 15s. I represent the men and women of PBA 138, prosecutor's unit, detective unit. Understand that you have a tough job to do with the balancing of the budget and saving taxpayer dollars. I
office for 22 and a half years. I have spent most of my career working in the basement at 1921 High Street. I am currently the detective sergeant for the high-tech crimes unit and I am also in charge of the weapons in the evidence locker. Why am I telling you of
all this? Because believe it or not, I am one of the few people that are considered to be an old-timer. And of course, um, and over the course of my career, I have been witness to the county's many attempts to try and fix the various leaks and issues with 1921
High Street and also 29 street high street buildings. I have also watched many watched as many of the county commissioners both present here tonight and those from the past who have visited our office and promised to address our various building issues try to move us
to what's now closed facility of the jail. I would like to express to you that the men and women that I represent from my bargaining unit here tonight from the Sussex County Prosecutor's Office are deeply upset and disappointed to hear that is now on a resolution on
the agenda tonight to sell the jail facility. While there is still no plan in place to meet the asurances that have been given to us during all of those visits almost each and every one of you. While at the time it can be said that our office has its ups and downs with v
personel issues. I would like to point out that perhaps many of the issues stem from the fact that each each day as people walk into their office environment, they walk into a building in which the office staff outgrew the place in which they work probably in
2005. Please do not sell the Kodire Correctional Facility. Please rehab it. And a personal fun fact, my father was on the original construction crew in 1975 and he placed the Christmas tree at the top of the building when it was finished.
[Applause] Thank you. Hey Diane, uh just back to like what I said to Sahil, you know, we I've had a lot of maybe maybe that information doesn't get trickled down to your office, but we've had we've been taking steps
for the last four years to to make sure things are better. So that's I know, right? So it it does take a long time to do things. We are government. It sucks. I get that. There's also always money issues. But for you to say that we haven't taken steps, that's that's not right. That's not true.
I understand that you have I understand. I know there's been remediation done and I I understand. It's not even the remediation. It's it's taking the steps forward to get you a better building or a new building or a totally renovated building. And that's been going on for four years. And I've had many conversations. So when
you guys come here and say, "We haven't been doing anything." That is not true. Well, I I appreciate that. Thank you very much. And I I appreciate trying to clarify that. And I'd like you to understand that I'm coming to you with all the representatives, people that I represent and just try to express to you
that, you know, we only we see this on the resolution and we are reading articles in the paper and but what does the the selling of the jail have to do with the prosecutor's office? I mean, do you think you're going to get the prosecutor's office like if we don't sell it? Like that was never discussed. No one knows that information. That's not what we've been represented to us over and over the
course of time. We we've heard these rumors. We've seen this rumors. Would you like to move us? I would love to put a new building up in the same spot to be honest with you, but and there are steps that we are taking. Okay. I just I I want everybody to know in the public because you made your statement and I I can't just sit here and say we
didn't do anything because that bothersome to me when I've been sitting here and I've had many meetings with with the old prosecutor, both two old prosecutors and now the interim, right, saying we are taking steps. We have been taking steps. It's little steps which again are not good for me, but that's how we have to work.
Okay. So, I can appreciate that. I do appreciate that. And I I don't want to air out all the issues and I know this is not the appropriate place to do so. If you would like to have a meeting with us because you're right, it is not the platform for it. But if you want to come and sit and you want to bring some of your your uh colleagues, I'd be more than happy to go over some of the plans
that we have that I can tell you what we've done and and and get your feedback. But that's what I've been doing all along and that's what a lot of the commissioners prior to me along with me and even our new commissioners done. If we didn't care, we wouldn't even come up and look at your building. And we do. We all know it's a problem. I've said it
publicly many, many times. We have a lot of buildings that are in disarray. We got into this situation. We didn't create this situation. We're trying to fix it. That doesn't happen overnight. Sir, I've been there for 22 and a half years and I have been in that basement and as you know and I've expressed to
you at certain times and I know and I all of you have been down there. I' I've been in that basement and I've been down there with a black mold scenario and I know how much money you spent to remediate that scenario. And there's still an issue with with certain things.
And unfortunately in 29 High Street, as you've seen and and on the thumb drive I presented, there's still we have still have issues. You walk into that building in the front. It's our major crimes unit. You walk in and you walk into the building and it it's it's unfortunately
there there's not even carpet on the floor because the the it's a disgrace. We and it's no fault to the fac management people they are doing the best they can with what we have% put anybody on the spot 100% agreed again I think it's a conversation
make an appointment to speak with you% and I we stand behind prosecutor cops and and all it and just you know to let you know and we support what you're trying to do and we appreciate that but all we're trying to say is please don't sell in jail okay that's what we're saying please again just my last
statement I don't know what the jail has to do with you guys new building I just I don't get that thank you very much can I make a comment. Sure. Uh, when I first come on, No, not to you. I'm going to make this to the entire group. When I first come on this board, Commissioner Space and I did a
tour of the county jail facility with the assistant prosecutor with us and the head of facilities. When we walked through that building, the head of facilities, I put him on the spot and asked him the question, "What would you see in this building if you were going to put something in this building?" His
exact words, the worst property we own in Sussex County are the prosecutor's office. That's how the thought of the prosecutor come. Commissioner Space was with us. We talked about it. He looked at the building and said, "Yeah, I could fit good in here." I'm going to show you a presentation in a few minutes of what
the what their prosecutor's office looks like inside. And that's all I have to say. I'm not saying I'm not saying we have a problem that needs to be addressed. I'm Michelle Van Allen Hardest. I uh in
regards to the um resolution for selling the jail, the prosecutor and his team need a safe space to work. You're saying four years you've been working on it. A lot can get accomplished in four years. How long has the jail been vacant? Uh
you're and you're saying, "What does one have to do with the other?" It's a a space that could be retrofitted for the offices that you need for the people that are working in a basement for 20 years plus. Uh you're if you're putting
it out to bid, that means to me that it's not like if I sold my house and I put a price on it, well, they could bid back and forth, but this is the price I want. You put it out for bid, whoever the highest bidder is going to get it. You're shaking your head now. Okay, that's why I'm asking. I don't know. I
just know that it's a valuable building that probably needs some work, but could be retrofitted to work for the office space that you need for the people for the last four years that you said you've been working on, and they're working in a mold situation in a basement. Think
about if that were where your offices were. I'm sorry. Did you want me to No, I'm just answering your question. Okay. Because I didn't want to take up your time. All right. Great. Um I know you don't like when we chat amongst ourselves. So,
I'll wait. Okay. So, just think about if you they asked you as the commissioners, why don't you swap with us and from the prosecutor's office and you go work in the moldy basement? I'll bet you that would be fixed rather quickly. So, I'm
looking forward to your presentation, Commissioner Henderson. And I think you're on the right track of maybe getting someone to listen to what they have to say. These people work hard for us every day. They should have a place that they can be in that's not unhealthy for them and that they're not going to
sue our county. Someone comes down with a Thank you. comes down with a mold uh issue in their health. Where did it come from? Sitting in that space all of those years. Selling the jail to me is not an answer. If this is public property that
we all own as taxpayers, we should have a right to say instead of what the five people Oh, by the way, we're missing one. Oh, he was here and he left. What happened? Anybody see him leave? No. Okay. Um, he should be gone for good, but that's a different story. Please
think about not selling this jail until you have enough time for all of us to understand what you're doing. And if it really could be repurposed for what our needs are in this county, we have a lot of buildings. You say there's a lot of them need work. That one probably doesn't need enough work that we couldn't use it for our prosecutor's
office and whatever else. And helping out with our homeless situation and those services. I think that would be beneficial. Thank you. So, ma'am, just two things to to clarify. Um, so we're on the same page. You mentioned sell after have to selling it to the lowest bidder. Uh, not
necessarily the case. The county does have the ability to set a reserve, which I it will do. Um, so it doesn't end up selling it for a dollar to somebody. So, they'll pick a number be below which highest bidder. I'm sorry. Uh, but I think you knew what I meant. Uh, that's number one. Number two, um there there's
still by statute and the resolution tonight is just the next statutory step to selling a piece of public property. There still will be a public hearing. So, we'll be able to go through all this again uh before it's actually sold. Uh so, um it's just the next step on the way to to getting there. The resolution tonight is the the next step to
authorize the county to move forward so that they can schedule a hearing, notice that it's going to be sold, etc. And I think going forward too as we proceed it would be advantageous for everybody to understand how much money we've been
spending on the jail for the last as you said uh Mel since it's been sold. It's been and I've said it if you look back at our meetings I've said it it's been $169,000 for five corrections officers been there. It should have been sold a long
time ago 100%. Why we had a building that we spend that much money is beyond me. So I think once more information comes out I think maybe maybe you won't agree and that's fine but then you maybe you understand what we've been doing and
why you know you only hold on hold on you only get briefings of when you guys come to the meetings you haven't this is a big crowd for the last six months seven months this is the biggest crowd we've seen in a long time except for when I first got on and they were five and a half hours but in between that time we've had five six people so
they're not always here you guys aren't watching the meetings and and and and listening to what we're doing and listening to how we're saving money and having buildings that we don't use. So, there's a lot more to it. It's not as easy as just, oh, we could just do this. It's only, you know, a million dollars.
No, it's not. I could just tell you this number for sure. If we wanted to redo the jail right now, it was be $60 million. They priced that out five years ago, so it was probably upwards of about $80 million to make it a jail. I'm just saying to make it a jail. That's a number I can give you now. But as we go on, I think it would be good to let the
public know. Be very transparent about it on how much we spend, how much we're looking to spend, and then maybe you'll change your mind. Maybe you won't. Maybe you won't. This is not Q&A. I'm just making a statement, right? And I think that would help everybody out. I'd like to make a statement then as well. If we sat on this jail as a newbie
sitting here at this board, we've sat on this jail empty for four years. I guess my question is as a new commissioner and as a taxpayer, why did we sit on a jail for four years? It's been six years to be exact. Since we got rid of it
since it's been empty with prisoners. Um Terry Papen, I know most of you I'm sorry. Um, can you hear me now? Um, I'm Terry Papen, the vice president of finance and administration at Sussex County Community College. Appreciate your time today. Uh, we're here. I'm
here. Uh, Dr. Homer had to go to a planning board uh, meeting. Um, it was supposed to be a new agenda item. Oh, okay. I'm sorry. Okay.
Okay. Second. Any discussion? I Okay. I'm going to start out on July 28th since it's been a while since we've been here. I attended the Ogdensburg Council meeting as their leaison. One
topic that come up there was the sale of the former Ogdensburg first aid building which was given to the town. After back and forth conversation, a vote was taken and the Ogdensboro residents will have be voting on that topic on the November ballot whether to sell their building or
not sell their building. On August 6th, I attended a meeting at SCMUA where a resolution was unanimously passed allowing for sewer expansion in Vernon Township. On August 7th, I along with my fellow commissioners attended senior day at the
fair. I, as a commissioner and a senior. It was a great event. I'd like to thank all the county employees involved in setting this up and all those that had tables with various information for our Sussex County seniors. I'd also like to congratulate Shirley Hill of Frankfurt
who was named senior of the year. I'm not going to reveal Shirley's age, but I can tell you I've shared several cups of coffee with her in conversation when she come to visit my grandmother over the years. I'd also like to congratulate Sophie Shaner of Lafayette Township on being crowned the queen of the fair. Not that
I'm competitive, but that's two years in a row for Lafayette Township. On August 14th, I attended a Zoom meeting of the Sussex County Waterpack where the previous resolution passed at Skuma was passed unanimously by their board supporting Vernon sewer expansion. That
will come to this board for a final vote. On August 15th, I attended a benefit baseball game for Shannon This, a county 911 operator who lost her life to cancer. It was an incredible event supporting her husband Jim and their two small children.
August 16th, I along with my fellow commissioners attended a veterans picnic organized by Sussex County Social Services. The event was very well attended. I'd like to thank all those that organized that event. But more importantly, I'd like to thank the veterans of Sussex County and of this
country. August 18th, I attended a ribbon cutting at Sussex County Community College for the newly renovated nursing lab. It is a state-of-the-art facility. It's certainly a great opportunity for students near and far to master the skill of nursing. Last night for my first, I attended the
pinning of an e boy scout eagle badge to Joseph Foley of Andover Township. I presented a proclamation on behalf of this board for his achievements. In June, I had the privilege of shaking his hand as he walked across the graduating stage at Sussex VOTE. He'll be listing
in the US Navy in the fall. And now I'd like uh just one further thing. Today at 3 o'clock I attended a Sussex County MUA meeting and I'm happy to report that they recycled 22 and a half tons of shrink wrap from boats between Sussex County and Mars County
that was normally going into the landfill. And now, as I said, I do have a PowerPoint presentation. Uh I just want to put this out there. I do have the uh authority to show this on behalf of the prosecutor. Uh, I'd like to just walk you through some of the things on their
building. If you look here, as uh Mr. Rude mentioned earlier, this is the entrance to the uh major crime unit. And please correct me if I'm wrong on the name of the building. This is the front entrance of our top law enforcement in the county entrance. A floor cement with the carpet ripped up with the glue showing on the
floor. Okay, if you look at this, and it's kind of hard to see in this picture, it it is a blue dehumidifier there. Commissioner Space and I both saw two of them sitting there running 24 hours a day. You look closely at the corner of the wall, there is a plastic tube that runs up and over
the wall, through the drop ceiling, and comes down into the men's bathroom sink. They are taped to the wall to drain the water into the sink. I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention. This is the I guess I would call it the second floor above the doors that have
no carpet. This is what that second floor looks like inside that building. I don't know what it was long before my time. It appears maybe it was an apartment. Uh there's other pictures of tubs and everything else, but that's the current condition of this building as of probably about a week ago. This is over
top of the head. This is a better shot. You can go back to that one. That's good. That's a better shot of another room upstairs over all these employees heads. Okay, I'm sorry. Just keep This is a typical cubicle. Uh the prosecutor could probably tell you better. There's probably five at least
in a row on that side and another five matching the other with a narrow walkway down between the building. And I know Commissioner Carney has gone for a walk through there. I know Commissioner Space and I did it together. Not sure if Commissioner Degrroot if you had the opportunity to walk through here.
Okay. Sure. I'm sorry. This is just another angle looking down this long narrow hallway. You can see there's offices to my right looking at that picture where other people are in the building. If you look to the pictures of the
steps, this is what she's referring to working in the basement. These are the steps leading to their offices. On the other side of that picture is what we call storage and filing. Now, I don't know about you, I'll be the first to admit I'm a former law enforcement officer. What is more important than
police files? Uh other than probably tax documents. This is how they are stored in that building. Okay, this is in the basement. Uh, Miss Rude, I'm sure you can probably tell me if this isn't one of your workstations. Yes, sir.
That was our kitchen. As you see, there's three office space cubicles there for the detectives in the basement of that building. And I'm not sure, but I would guess absolutely no windows or any idea what's going on outside. No, sir. You think it's snowing every day?
Okay. Uh, this is another part of the basement, just a different view of offices. Uh, that is the major high-tech crime. Am I right in saying that? Yes, sir. It's a high-tech crime room with four or five individuals working in that small room of an office.
There are 13 monitors in that room. There are eight computers. I don't know whether she can answer them. So, I'm going to move further. Yeah. I'm not showing. I mean, prosecutor, could you address that?
Yes. Yes. Uh the next picture here is another office in the basement. Okay. The next picture is where our prosecutor currently is. You walk up the steps. Uh Commissioner Space, I think, will agree with me. You walk up this
step, you hit a landing, you turn and go up another flight of steps. If you want to come in for a personal interview or personally speak with this gentleman, you need to make sure you're able to climb steps because you will suck in by time you hit the top step and it certainly is not ADA compliant.
And that concludes my report. Okay. Uh, Commissioner, you are up. Sounds good. Um, so starting with New Jersey Transportation Planning Authority, NJTPA. On Monday, I attended the joint meeting of the Planning and Economic Development Committee and the
Project Prioritization Committee. Highlights of the meeting included a presentation by Hudson County on their vision zero safety action plan adoption and implementation, approval of the fiscal year 2026 2029 transportation improvement program and the accompanying
air quality conformity determination. Approval of the fiscal year 2026 NJTBA self-cert certification and finally a minor amendment to the fiscal year 2024 2027 transportation improvement program to add federal funds to the transmit
transit enhancement transportation alternative programs alternate transit improvement programs. Next, division of senior services. There will be a peer support group for Sussex County veterans. Veterans of all ages are invited to attend a monthly peer support group held on the 4th Wednesday of each
month from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. on the first floor of the Sussex County Administrative Center in Newton. This group provides veterans with a chance to connect and learn more about programs and services available to them. Next meeting will be Wednesday, August 27th, 2025. To register, please call the Division of Senior Services at
973-579055 extension 11135. Center of Lifelong Learning at at CCCCC. In partnership with Sussex County Community College, the Division of Senior Services is hosting a free lecture on Thursday, September 11th, 2025 at 2 p.m. in the uh atrium of the
Performing Arts Center at SECCC. Dr. Robin Mirror will present an in-depth look at The Six Wives of Henry VIII. For details or to register, please call 973-579055 extension1277. Moving on to our beloved Sussex County
library system. Uh September is library card signup month. Uh so library cards are free for anyone living, working, or going to school in Sussex County except Sparta. They have their own library. Uh to learn more, visit any branch or go to sussex county library.org. There's some special promotions which includes
include get, use, or renew your card. Each time you sign up for or renew or use your card in September, you'll be entered into uh into a draw to win a library swag bundle. Uh one winner per branch. Uh refer a friend promotion. When you refer someone who signs up for
their first Sussex County Library System card, you'll both be entered to win a grand prize gift card bundle. Some community highlights. As we know, the New Jersey State Fair kicked off uh this past August with great energy, and I was fortunate to spend some time at several events. First was the opening
ceremony alongside some my fellow commissioners. I want to extend a thank you to Secretary of Agriculture uh for New Jersey Ed Wingren as he made the trip up north from Trenton. I had a productive conversation with the secretary regarding farmland preservation not only in Sussex County but around the state of New Jersey. Uh,
next I attended the history awards and I want to send a special thank you to Bill Truan, our county historian for his dedication and recognizing exceptional students with a passion for history and historical landmarks throughout the county. Additionally, I had a wonderful time supporting 4 at the very own uh 4
market animal sale uh where I purchased a female goat. Um, my girlfriend named her Muffin if anyone was interested. uh instead of sending her to the butcher, I decided to bring her home to the farm where she will be a valuable addition to the herd. So, very exciting addition. Uh
last but certainly certainly not least, uh there was senior day which was mentioned. Uh it was a tremendous success. Once again, congratulations to uh Shirley Hail of Frankfurt Plains Church for being named senior of the year. Uh thank you to Lorraine and the county workers for once again just doing
a fabulous job. Uh, additionally, alongside assembly men in Ganmore, we attended a ribbon cutting ceremony for North Norwest Westcap in Sussex Burough. Uh, and then finally, alongside Commissioner Henderson, Deputy Director Space, and Director Carney, I was honored to attend and serve food at Sussex County's 12th annual veterans
picnic. Heartfield, thank you to the Division of Senior Services once again, Municipal Alliance and Veterans Committee for hosting such a meaningful event. To all veterans, truly, thank you for your service. Uh, that's all I have. Thank you and God bless. Okay, I'm going to skip through a few of
my things so I'm not repetitious for all of you. Uh, Director Carney and I attended the ribbon cutting for the new mobile health clinic, which I'll read more about in my re other part of my report. Um, Commissioner Degrroot Henderson and I uh attended the opening ceremonies of the fair where we had the
opportunity to meet the New Jersey Secretary of A Ed Wingren. had the opportunity to speak with constituents at the Sussex GOP tent um for a few hours which was great to hear their concerns. Uh Commissioner D Degrroot, myself and Sheriff Strada toured the
fair and went through all the um agricultural buildings with Sheriff Jim Ganon. Attended a meet and greet with the New Jersey Farm Bureau President Alan Carter. Um and then I also want to congratulate all of the Skylands ride drivers for their safe driving skills.
We did give them awards also at the fair and uh they're better driver than I am. I will say that since my car was in the shop twice this year, which I shouldn't even say that, but um and then I attended coffee with a cop with members of the Sussex County Sheriff's
Department, Sussex County Prosecutor's Office, New Jersey State Police, County Administrator Ron Tapen, Frankfurt Mayor Dave Silverthorn, and Hope Packong Mayor Marie Galott. And I want to thank Senior Services for the wonderful Veterans Day barbecue. and we did enjoy serving the
people. I want to thank my fellow three commissioners here for always putting Sussex County first and always showing up. And it I'm I'm going to say it. I'm very disappointed that uh Commissioner Hayden left. So if he feels he's had
threats, I've had threats for years and years and years and look who shows up. So I'm not going to be silent anymore. But anyway, on to uh the rest of my report. Division of Health Mobile Health Clinic. A ribbon cutting ceremony was held at the Health Division in Hardon on
Thursday, July 24th to celebrate the arrival of their new mobile health clinic. The Commissioner Board funded this purchase through the American Rescue Plan Act in 2023 to expand residents access to health care and address barriers residents often encounter when trying to access services
such as a lack of reliable transportation and travel time due to our rural and expansive geography. The Office of Public Health Nursing is excited to begin utilizing this vehicle and hopes to have everything in place for this to occur this fall. To learn more about the services and programs
available through the Office of Public Health Nursing, visit their website at sussex.nj. usning. Office of Public Health Nursing Clinics, a child health clinic will be held on Tuesday, August 26, 2025 from 10 to 12 at the Office of Public Health Nursing,
2011 Weatworth Road, Hamburg. This clinic offers complete physical exams, screenings, and age appropriate immunizations for children from birth to five years. Services are free for those who are uninsured. To learn more about this clinic or schedule an appointment, call the Office of Public Health Nursing
at 973-5790570 extension 1275. A health check clinic will be held on Tuesday, August 26, 2025 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Office of Public Health Nursing, 2011 Weatssworth Road, Hamburg. This clinic offers vaccines for adults
and school-aged children. There is no fee for vaccines if uninsured or underinsured. The clinic also offers a variety of health screenings. To learn more about this clinic or schedule an appointment, call the Office of Public Health Nursing at 973-579-0570
extension 1275. Division of Senior Services. Matter of balance. A matter of balance is a program designed to reduce the fear of falling and increase activity levels among older adults. The Division of Senior Services will hold a matter of balance classes at two locations beginning in September as
noted below. Hophong Senior Center September 8th through November 3rd, once per week on Mondays from 10 to 12. Vernon Senior Center, 21 Church Street, Vernon, September 3rd through October 22nd, once per week on Wednesdays from 1
to 3 p.m. To register or obtain additional information, please contact the Division of Senior Services at 973-57905-55 extension 1225. And then I'm going to leave the rest of my report and we'll post it online to save time. I was going to give it a one minute
warning, but not too. Okay, I'm going to give you department of engineering planning. Uh Sussex County in-house construction crew is advancing work on the replacement of county road county bridge X20. The bridge is located in Wanage and carries Berry Road over a branch of the Papin
River. Anyway, uh crews have completed site clearing and demolition of the old bridge. Current work efforts include construction the bridge abutments and installing steamird scour protection system. Not even sure what that is. And I build bridges. Work on the bridge abutments is expected to be cleaned by the end of the
next week. Uh once complete, crews will begin work on a cast in place concrete abutment seats requiring to support the new timber bridge uh superructure. So it'll kind of look like a it'll fit in almost like a vintage bridge on Berry Road. If you live in Wanage, it's been out for easy 12 years. So hopefully
that'll be done in the next couple months. Uh Cesar County Bridge BO8. Sussex County BR uh Sussex County in-house bridge construction crew is nearing completion of the bridge rail and sidewalk uh replacement of Sussex County bridge BO8 uh that is located in the burrow of Branchville and carries railroad avenue over a branch of the
Pollinskill River. Work include the removal and reconstruction of the obsolete bridge rail uh deteriorated concrete sidewalk and deficient structural portion of the bridge supporting the sidewalk. The project is expected to be completed and a bridge returned to full service by the end of next week. This one's a big one. Anybody
from Stillwater? Uh, if you guys have been coming to these meetings, uh, County Route 521 or Maple Avenue, uh, during November of 23, in response to an emerging public safety concerns, County Route 521, also known as Maple Avenue in Stillwater was reduced from a two-way
roadway to a single lane roadway. Since that time, the flow of traffic along the segment of 521, has been managed using a temporary signal, providing alternate single lane movements. But over the la past two weeks, the Cesa County construction crew has removed the temporary signal and constructed robust
temporary protections require required to restore the roadway to a two-lane service. The current configuration is temporary pending a larger capital project which is years away. Uh the larger capital project is currently in the engineering project phase. Design permitting and rightway phases of the
project are expected to be completed over the next three or four years. So it's a long way ways away. I did um Note, side note, sidebar for the commissioners and Ron. I did talk to Dmitri. He's the the constituent resident who lives adjacent to the
bridge. He was very happy. He was very grateful to all of us uh for getting this done. And they actually finished about four days uh earlier than they were supposed that twoe process. It's not great, but at least there's the traffic's moving. He says it's night and day. So, he's he's very happy, which is
it's good because he wasn't very happy prior. So, um, again, a lot of commissioners, we were at the same places, so you you heard that already. Um, I just want to say thank you to Lorraine and and all her colleagues for the veterans lunchon. I know all the all
the all my colleagues mentioned it, but to serve the veterans who served us uh means a lot means a lot to me and I know you guys as well. Um, I also went to the Changing the Face of Addiction Walk in Franklin with Assemblywoman Fantasia. If
you guys ever been there, it's a it's a good event. I'll say that. But you want to talk about sad, that is a very sad event. On the on the back drop uh in the back of the vent at the Franklin Pavilion, they have pictures of all the individuals who died uh
overdosing in the state of New Jersey. And it's it's crazy. And a lot of them are very young, a lot of young most mostly young. So, it's crazy. We need to get a grip on what's happened um in the country, in our state, in our county. Um
so that's all I have. All right. Number 11, the approval of the consent agenda. There is no number 12 is the approval minutes. This from the regular meeting uh from June 25th,
2025. Regular meeting from July 9th, 2025. And a regular meeting from July 23rd, 2025. Can I get a motion to approve the meeting minute? So moved. And it's from this minute. Commissioner Henderson, W Director Space. Any discussion? All in favor say I.
I. Oppos. Number 13's ordinance. We have none. Number 14th. Appointments in or resignations. There are none. 15 resolutions. All right. I get a motion to adopt resolutions A through R.
So moved. Deputy Director Space. Have a second. Second. Commissioner Degrew. Any discussion? Roll call, please. Deputy Director Space, yes. Director Carney, yes. Commissioner Degru, yes. Commissioner Hayden, absent.
Commissioner Henderson, yes. All right. Uh motion to adopt resolution S. I have a motion. I will move that. Have a second. I'll second it. Commissioner Doo. Uh, any discussion? Yes, absolutely. I think I've certainly
stated my point here in my objection to selling the jail and retaining the jail for county office space. Uh, I understand the county can't afford to do it all at once. I think it's something that's a year years in the future, certainly long after my time of building
the jail out to host county buildings under one roof, one air conditioning, one furnace, and maintain one building versus the prosecutors who currently occupy five different locations. We received our packet on Friday afternoon of what the was coming up in the minutes
today. Uh it mentions an appendix A. Appendix A is a report that we're going to vote on tonight to release to the public. Believe me, I'm all in support of you guys seeing this resolution. But I guess I do have a question, and maybe this is for our administrator more than
you, uh, Director Carney. Uh, the report is dated. It was done by our uh, engineering department, Bill Copenol. The report is dated April 29th, 2025. I received that report for the first time ever since I've sat here in eight
months on 318 at 86 or August 16th at 3:18 p.m. I guess I'd like to know why since this has been such a hot button why this report I don't know whether anybody else on this board has ever seen this report before but I've saw it for my first time
on Friday afternoon and I don't know whether there's an answer to that why we're just seeing it now when we know this has been a hot topic for months. I don't have an answer why have any of you seen this report before Friday? We all got the same thing.
Why would we be holding a report? We've had multiple discussions about what to do with the jail, possibilities of the jail. We've met with facility and yet we've been sitting on a report from August 29th, 2025. I I don't know. I will tell you personally, I don't operate that way.
I'm like you. I want things done right and I want them done fast. This bothers me. Ask for that. How do you ask for it if you don't know what's available? I'd ask for anything. I If you were more involved, I guess you would get it. I don't have I'm more involved. I don't have an
answer for you. Well, I mean, it's not involved. It's the fact I'm saying involved in this people. Not involved in everything. Obviously, we know I'm not. I'm just saying involved in that. If you were concerned, you need more information. I asked for the appraisal on the building. You should have got it earlier.
I've got the appra I did get the appraisal. I But I've never ever seen this document. Now that we're voting on tonight, exhibit A. All of you should, not only me. All of you should 100% agree. And I will tell you, I am voting no in this resolution. And it's not because I don't want you guys to see the report. I
am in no way favor of selling that jail. But I think the report is going to help people understand reasons the steps that we took and why it even came to fruition. I think that's important. I know that's going to be
jail, but my for people to see I think they would appreciate that. When I look at a repairs list of $31,000 on two buildings and think what that could have been done in four years with that money that we sat on an empty jail in the beginning process of building that
agree% and I've been preaching for this for a long time before I'm with you. Then how do we move it forward? Right. We were 119 that's what it was 119 for the jail and I believe it was 69 for the
prosecutor's office just on fixes itself not even maintaining those fixes that's what this is repairs yeah that's it's crazy 100% agree that that report should go they should see that that's what I said before why I mean you should have got a long time ago you know I will even take some of that
you should have got you've never seen it how do you get to but I've said it before because I I've seen it years ago or I got through court years ago I've said it time and time again you couldn't got this report years ago. It's 2025. That's the numbers that I I just gave you, right? No, not at all. It is a synopsis of the evaluation done
by H&H on that building. That's what this is. This is our engineers interpretation of what the professional did. No, there's not there's not a dollar amount in this entire document. They're going to see there is not a dollar amount in this document.
Then I will make a motion to table this motion. I do have one comment that I want to publicly say that it's this is not a vote for or against the prosecutor's office. It has nothing to do with selling the jail or keeping the jail. It was not set in stone that the jail if we
keep it would be set as the prosecutor's office. It, you know, because I've heard things with board of elections also. 100% I agree with you 100% on that. I I just don't want the prosecutor's office and their employees to feel like this is
this was set to be theirs if we 100% I agree 100%. But when we walked through with the director of facilities and we asked him and when we sat and talked with him, he said the prosecutor's office were the worst piece of real estate we own in Sussex County.
So to me, if I own the worst piece of property, that would be the first one I would think we repair or rectify. Jack did. Oh. Oh. Okay. Take a roll call. Deputy Director Space. Yes.
Director Carney. Yes. Commissioner Drew. Yes. Commissioner Hayden. Commissioner Henderson. Absolutely. No. 16. Resolutions. So moved.
Second. Deputy director space. Yes. Director Carney. Yes. Commissioner Degru. Yes. Commissioner Hayden absent. Commissioner Henderson. Yes. So moved. Second.
Deputy Director Space. Yes. Director Carney. Yes. Commissioner Degru. Yes. Commissioner Hayden. Commissioner Henderson. Yes. Okay. Second. Deputy Director. Abstain.
Director Carney. Yes. Commissioner Degru. Yes. Commissioner Hayden absent. Commissioner Henderson. Yes. All right. 18 is per personnel. We have one personnel item. Uh this is the personnel agenda of August 20th, 2025. Can I get a motion to approve the
personnel agenda? So moved. Second. Regards space. Uh Commissioner Henderson. Seconds. Any discussion? Roll call, please. Deputy Director Space. Yes. Director Carney. Yes. Commissioner Degrew. Yes. Commissioner Absent. Commissioner Henderson.
Yes. All right. 19's administrative report. Ron, you are up. Thank you, sir. This I would like to give the public a a brief update on the Newton Green and the issues we're having with the homeless people. Um, I don't
have last week's data, but the data the week prior to that, the Newton Police Department has issued over 46 summones to individuals in that in that in that area for a whole array of various issues
that they they they were summoned for. Unfortunately, the the the courts right now are not hearing any of those summones. It's not it's they continue to write them, but they're not getting into the courts. We've had damage to the monuments out there. We
had to fence it off because we had uh issues with people that was going to walk through there or kids that might get hurt by the edges of the monuments that were put up in the in in that. We're scheduled to repair those here very soon. We got quotes this week from
the monument manufacturing people to put that back together on August on the Wednesday of next week. myself, Commissioner Space, Commissioner Degrroot, uh the town mayor, the town administrator, I mean the township
administrator and his group along with the director of homeless prevention from the DCA will be meeting to discuss opportunities and things that we could look at to better enhance the improvement of the of the and what we can do. I mean, we're we're exhausted in
everything that we've tried. the social services has gone out physically and interviewed these people, put them in programs that they could be at. Some have gone, some have not. Um, they've really exhausted everything that's available to them. Um, some of them are
not homeless at all. They just choose not to go to their the home that they're assigned to because they don't like the rules there. They'd rather come into Newton Green and do what they do. So, we are on it. We're doing everything possibly statutoily that we can and we're trying to get the state involved
to give us more options on things that we could possibly do in the future. So that's about all I have on that particular subject. Um uh outside of that uh that's been a a long week with that. Tomorrow I'll be at the statewide executive board meeting
and this week, last week started the mandatory POSA training for all the employees for this month and next month will be very all the employees that are under the POSA training will be taking that at the fire academy. So that's all I have until we get to new business. Perfect. Thank you, Ron. County Council
report. Yes. Um, with regard to the PowerPoint tonight, I I talked to to Commissioner Henderson beforehand, was aware uh that it was going to be presented to everyone. Had not seen it before the meeting started. Uh, I did step away from the deis for a
minute. Uh, I was talking to the director. I stepped away from the deis for a minute to talk to the county prosecutor having seen it. Um, and I and I realized that Commissioner Henderson got the prosecutor's approval to to play it tonight. Uh I understand that the video is not working tonight for the
meeting, only the audio, so it's not visible online. I did raise to the prosecutor uh concerns that I have uh a couple of the pictures, one in particular had a picture of someone's workstation that had a bunch of things posted on around it. Um, I did want to
ask the prosecu I I went back and asked the prosecutor if someone vetted to make sure that there's no either victim information on there or phone numbers that might include uh personnel in the prosecutor's office. Anything that anybody that has access to computer could blow up and be able to see. Um, and we both spoke about making sure that
those would be redacted. So, I I can assure everybody that nothing was available online tonight that anybody could have taken off uh by watching that PowerPoint. I already sent an email from the deis uh to Mr. tap in to Miss Markx who's not here tonight to the director to ensure that that those get scrubbed
by it so that nothing could possibly be released to the public that would make sure that anybody's any victim information or any investigatory information or even any personnel information from any of the prosecutor's office could possibly be released inadvertently. Somebody like requests that PowerPoint. That was all I have.
Perfect. Thank you. Uh any 21 any unfinished business? Okay. 22 new business. I do too. You go first. Okay. Um want to let the commissioners know that
our opioid settlement amounts came in August 8th. They were wired to us. So we got our distribution of the this year's aotment of the opioid funds which is about 350 some 350 some thousand dollars. So we still have funding for
that that's going towards what you heard tonight on the on all the programs that are throughout the county. In addition to that opium settlement, the attorneys that represented all the municipalities, counties, agencies, states, and etc. on
the opium studies is also looking to put a tort action claim against the manufacturers of insulin drugs for the mere purpose of the in extraordinary inflationary cost that is on insulin drugs. Over the course of the history of
insulin being developed in this particular arena in 1997 to today, it is extreme. It's gone up, 1574% from its original R&D manufacturing. So, I'm going to ask the board, this company, this attorney group that went
after the opioid manufacturers are also going after the part want to go after the the extraordinary high cost of insulin drugs in the same format. I'm g ask the the the commissioners to give me the authorization to put a resolution on for next meeting to join all of the
other counties in this state particularly that are going in that torque claim. Yeah. It's effectively a price gouging lawsuit. It's it's a national lawsuit for those that were marketing or distributing insulin. Uh and since you have insurance uh coverages here for
employees uh you fall within the potential class. So that's why you were solicited. And as Mr. tab and said it is the same group uh the same firm that the uh the county used successfully so on their opiate wave lawsuits. Also the insulin drugs are in the top
10% of the cost of our prescription benefits. They're at the top of the list. So the and we spend a lot of money on Yeah, I was just trying to state that. I was just figuring that out. Okay. Um, yes. If we can get a motion to join the insulin class action suit and give Ron
permission to jump on that along with council. Get that done. Mr. Henderson, Deputy Director Space. We do all in favor we vote on the roll call. Um, any discussion. Okay. Roll call, please. Then deputy director space. Yes.
Director Carney. Yes. Commissioner the group. Yes. Commissioner Hayden absent. Commissioner Henderson. Yes. Thank you. So, I'll have that resolution ready been prepared for the next meeting. Perfect. Good. Uh, any more new business? I just have two things. We're
going to talk I just real quick I I know you guys got um this letter for Sussex County Community College for their grant. I don't know if you were able to read it. I know you just got it today. Again, I apologize for that. Um,
but there again since Corey Homer and staff and a new board got to the college in the last months. There you go. Things have turned around turned around dramatically and we're big advocates for you guys. Uh, we're always
here to help you guys. Uh, you know that. So, I know you want to speak a little bit on this. Communicate a little bit about the grant and I appreciate your time. Sorry to keep everybody so late. Um Sussex County Community College is applying uh for a three $3,850,000
grant with no match required. Uh the funding is from the Higher Education Facilities Trust, also known as Haft funding, to renovate, as everybody knows, the Horton Mansion um for to use for classroom space. Uh SEC is currently at seat capacity for
classrooms during the week in specific time blocks and is forced to either turn students away or force them to take courses during other times that conflict with child care, jobs, etc. So what I'm here to ask for is a letter in support
of this grant as we apply for this. Uh the timing of the grant, it opens on September 9th and closes on somewhere around September 20th. So we would just be looking for a letter of support from the commissioners as we seek to renovate
the first floor of the Horton Mansion as everybody knows where that beautiful building is located space. I will make that motion that we support them. I second it. Second. Okay. Uh moved by Commissioner Henderson, second by Commissioner Grew.
Any discussion? Um, any other questions about the grant? And it's Yeah, that's how I was getting. No, absolutely not. We appreciate that. And you guys are always going after the money uh where it helps out. So, I know our next meeting is not till the 10th. You need by the 9th. So, we need to get
this going. So, uh yeah, if everybody's in agreement, I think we all in favor of that. It's only a resolution. So, uh all in favor say I. I. Appreciate it. That would go to Dr. Homer. Thank you. Thank you so much. And thank you for coming in. Yeah. Let let him know when you walk out.
Uh, and then the the the next one, um, it's been on my mind for a while and I was a little, I don't know, reluctant to do this, but it needs to be done, so I'm going to do it. Um, Commissioner Hayden
does not help at all here. Um, you guys, most of you guys have come, you've seen, he's just, he doesn't do anything. uh us four as you hear we pick up all the slack and we'll do that it's not a problem but there's certain liaison that
we're too like uh commissioner Henderson's the college commissioner space is is senior services um prosecutor or I'm sorry I'm I'm a surrogate he's prosecutor so on so forth he's just not picking up a slack so my intention tonight if you guys are good with it and I guess maybe we'll have to
make a motion I just want to create an alternate that way our municipalities and our liaison our agencies that we are liaison to um gets a fair share and gets a voice that could come back to us and say, "Hey, this is what's going on. Um
we need help and this is why we need help. You know, a lot of us, Commissioner Henderson's retired, but uh you know, we're all we're all working and actually you're not even retired because you still do your CPR and everything else you do, but uh you know, we don't have that much time and we are liaison to certain entities for a reason."
And some of them have only one liaison. Correct. So, in lie of the absenteeism and and we honestly don't know, uh, I talked to our chief of staff, um, you know, trying to set up meetings with Commissioner Henderson. He's just not taking them. Um, again,
I'm I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Commissioner Hayden. Uh, you know, is not here. Whether whether he's here or not, this has to be done for the for the benefit of the county. So, if you guys are all good, we will put uh divvy up a list of
what he has and then we're just going to have to step up even more. Um because we just can't keep this line. I don't I I emailed him three times if he was come to this meeting. He didn't reply back to me. He replied back to chief of staff or clerk. Um she said he was coming and
then you know you see what I see. So, if you guys are good with that, we'll put a motion forward to create alternates for Commissioner Hayden uh as leaison. And at the next meeting, we'll uh put we're going to have to do a
resolution for that. I believe a resolution set forth for our next meeting and we'll we'll take care of that. And if he if he goes, then he goes, we can't stop him from that, but uh at least we'll have a secondary contingency plan. All right, I'll make that motion. Deputy Director Space moves it. Got a
second. Second, Commissioner Henderson. Any more discussion on that? Okay. Uh, let me do all f all in favor say I. I. Oppose. Abstain. Motion carries. Okay. 23.
Public session from the floor. This public session for those wishing to make general comments of three minutes or less on non-aggenda topics. Please line up at the microphone, state your name, and Miss B for the record. Motion to open the floor for public comment. Commissioner Henderson moves. Commissioner seconds. Any discussion?
All in favor say I. I. Oppos? Abstain. Carries. Uh, good evening, Ken Collins, Andover Township. Um, five went out and four came back. When Mr. Hayden arrived, I thought he had the guts to face his
constituents, but I was wrong. You got my hopes up. I thought you'd sacked him. Commissioner William Hayden, whose resignation I have been calling for since allegations of his false claims to be a military veteran came to light, has now been indicted by the New Jersey
office of the Attorney General for filing fraudulent taxes, claiming a veteran's deduction he is not entitled to because he has never been a member of the United States Armed Forces. While Mr. Hayden may deny that he committed this crime, it has now been confirmed by the Department of Defense that he is not
a veteran, as he has pretended to be. And Bill Hayden is guilty of claiming to be a veteran when he is not indicted, shamed, ostracized, ineffective, absent. Mr. Hayden's behaviors have resulted in his failure to actively
govern as he was sw as he swore to when he was inaugurated. He fails to participate in necessary events because of the animosity he has created between himself and his colleagues. He fails to keep his oath. Commissioner Hayden should resign immediately and go away.
Nobody wants his kind around here. Next, the Trump administration is targeting Pikatini Arsenal for closure in a vicious and vengeful attack on the blue state of New Jersey. While the arsenal itself is not in Sussex County, many people who are employed there are residents and taxpayers here. The Trump
administration is so blinded by their hatred for Democratic states that they don't care that closing Pikatini is actually dealing a blow to the heart of the northern New Jersey Republican stronghold of Sussex and Mars counties. in their zeal for hurting Democrats. The Trump administration is planning to hurt
Republicans right here. The economic impacts of the closure of Pikatini would have a substantial impact on Sussex Countyy's residents and economy. I urge you all to get involved in the effort to keep Pikatini arsenal open. Lastly, the Foundation for Individual
Rights and Expression Fire.org or will be sending you a letter explaining to you why the insurance requirements that you have implemented for the Newton Green are unconstitutional. I urge the board to take that letter
very seriously if you want to avoid another lawsuit. Thank you. [Applause] Michael Hughes Hampton. Why are veterans important to our
nation? Veterans play an essential role in shaping and protecting our country. Their dedication to service goes beyond the military, influencing every part of American life. From defending our freedom to serving their communities,
veterans uphold the values that make our nation strong. Veterans risk their lives to protect our freedoms and rights. and while facing insurmountable personal challenges. Whether it's being in war zones, spending long periods away from
their families, or dealing with physical and mental ailments due to their service, veterans have made significant sacrifices to make sure that we can enjoy our freedom. Those who have served understand that things rarely go as
planned during operations. As a result, veterans become skilled in thinking quickly and adapting to challenges. This ability to think on their feet is just one of the many valuable skills veterans possess. Veterans time in the military
often shapes their identity and worldview, influencing how they approach life and relationships. Many become inspired to continue helping our nation through volunteering and public service activities. This is one of the many
reasons why it's important to honor and appreciate our veterans contributions. Recognizing their bravery and commitment can help strengthen our national identity and pride. Veterans continue to inspire and encourage young people. They are great role models because they
demonstrate self-control, determination, and integrity. As the younger generation continues to appreciate the impact that veterans have made, they will carry forward the significance of a veteran's role to future generations.
As I said last week, there are many ways to demonstrate commitment to our nation. Now I can say this, serving on the board, making that kind of commitment and time and energy, appearing at
meetings to offer views sometimes controversial. But that being said, the veterans contribution and identity is special. And to usurp that contribution and identity for the
sake of a free drink, a pat on the back, and unearned applause is beneath contempt. [Applause] Hi, my name is Rich Schnur from
Hardston, uh, veteran the United States Coast Guard. Um, last, uh, well, first of all, I like to thank all the commissioners for your, uh, participation in the veterans barbecue this weekend. I saw you all there working hard. Thank you. Had a great afternoon. Yes, it was awesome. Thank you. Um, last
month I was here and I u suggested that Bill Hayden maybe take up writing uh and write some uh Navy Seal uh fiction. And um then I thought to myself, why don't I do a little of that and take up writing myself? So I've written a a quick
children's book to help them understand Sussex County government currently and it's called Hillbilly Pig. And I'd like to read it to you. Sussex County, New H sorry Sussex, New Jersey. the county pushed too far. On a farm in Branchville, New Jersey, lives Hillbilly Pig. He was always jealous of veterans
being recognized and thanked for their service. Oink, oink, I'm sorry. So, Hillbilly Pig decided to tell people a lie. Oink, oink, oink. He'll say that he was a Navy vet. Nope. A US Navy Seal. Nope.
A US Navy Seal Team Six veteran. Yes, that sounds good. thought of Hillbilly Pig. Oink oink oink. So, Hillbilly Pig told everyone he was a Navy Seal Team Six veteran. People admired him, brought bought him beers, listened to his
incredible war stories, and thanked him for his service. Pictures also, Billy Pig told this lie to voters and they elected him to the county board of commissioners. Oink, oink, oink. This is how a pig became a county commissioner.
The people then discovered the lies and demanded he resign immediately. Oink, oink, oink. Hell no, growled Hillbilly Pig. So, the people asked Congressman Josh to help and he went to see former attorney general. Turns out that Hillbilly Pig also pretended to be a
veteran on his taxes, claiming a state deduction for years. Oink, oink, oink. Well, this is called stolen valor and former attorney general indicted Hillbilly Pig for this crime. Lol, says Hillbilly Pig as he awaits his trial.
The Sussex County residents will live happily ever after once Hillbilly Pig pays $15,000 in fines and spends five years in prison. So, in closing, I'd like to have all of us give Hillbilly Pig a Stolen Valor salute with big thumbs down and loudly say, "Oink, oink,
oink." Thank you. And lastly, I have a a hillbilly pig award to present to Cesus County Commissioner who happened to leave, William Hayden, August 20th, 2025. The Hillbilly Pig Award for Stolen Valor. So,
can I leave this Amber card Deborah Card Hardest. I actually have two comments. The first one is about Mr. Hayden. He basically has a no-show job as a taxpayer. Instead of doing whatever
the lawyer can sanction him or figure out three meetings you miss and trying to make that work, you've basically split his duties between Jack and Jill. Doesn't sound right. And Allan and yourself. So, you've literally handed
him a no-show job. I work very hard for my money. I think you guys make about 24,000. I find that totally unacceptable and financial mismanagement. The second thing I want to talk about and we've been talking about this jail for two years. There should have been a plan for
the jail when Mike Strada because that was a year of going back and forth because I worked at the jail and that was over a year of going back and forth to close the jail. There should have been a plan for the jail. I find it I'm going to give you a history lesson. You
weren't born. You weren't the lawyer. You didn't even live here. You lived here and you lived here. So, I'm gonna give you a history lesson. There was actually a senator that became a freeholder running on the idea of financial mismanagement. You know what
it was for? This building. It was bought for two million give or take over the assessed value. And Ron wasn't even here either. They're totally absolved. But he ran on that and won. That's how he became a
freeholder. And then he went on to do. But the point is, we own the building. You only have about 30 parking spaces there. And that building, I know they did work to it because I worked in that building. There's nothing wrong with that building. My husband's a police
officer. And I feel that the safety of the police officers or prosecutor, whoever goes in there is guaranteed because they actually have an underground tunnel. So they one minute snipers or whoever wants to harm them can't get to them if they're in an
underground tunnel. I don't understand why you want to push the jail. But again, if it's financial mismanagement, it will come around to bite you when you [Applause]
Hi, my name is Nick D. Fabrizio from Augusta. Um, just a quick observation. You know, I noticed I haven't been to these meetings in a while, but I noticed as I was sitting there that political polarization seems to reduce as you go from the national level to the local
level. There's a lot more unity about issues at the local level than international politics. I mean, unfortunately, some of that may be sur around complaining about local politicians that you guys get the brunt of that that you don't deserve. But I still find it really an amazing thing to
see. Um, but there are two issues that I think are um have both a national and a local uh attachment that I think are really important. Uh, Commissioner Spence, you mentioned the the uh the local health the uh mobile health clinics and the uh uh health uh
opportunities for elderly. I spent the entire summer dealing with my very elder father and who has had a lot of health problems and I'm just astounded at how difficult some of the health issues are for the elderly. And as as much as we have a really robust private health
system, a lot of the burden really falls on um community health, public health, public health issues, it's really really important that we keep that robust. Whatever happens at the national or state level, we have to do our best at a local level to keep those um assets and
opportunities open, particularly mobile. So many of the elderly and the poor have no ability to get to health care or to get checkups, vaccines, whatever. Just last night, I read that uh there that a case of malaria occurred in Mars County.
As somebody who's worked in Africa, I can tell you that malaria is the most dangerous one of the most dangerous um diseases we can face. So, it's imperative for uh us to keep an eye on things like that. And that's a public health issue.
private sector is not going to do it. The second thing I put out, Pikatini Arsenal. My uh my father-in-law was a head of pyrochnics there for many decades during the Vietnam War. It has an enormous history of of providing weapons and other uh technology to our
military. It's imperative that it stays open. It's it's the cream of the crop. So we should do that not just for polit for um uh economic reasons but also as a support of our military that we keep that open. Very very important. Thank you.
[Applause] Sandy Hall, Delaware Water Gap Defense Fund, Leighton, New Jersey. Um thank you for the opportunity to address the board. At a previous meeting, I presented the board with information on
the Explore Act passed in January of 2025. At that time, I urged caution and close examination of the acts pilot programs. Tonight, I'm presenting information on order 3434 from the Department of the Interior. The subject
is strengthening coordination with gateway communities, those cities, towns, tribes, or unincorporated areas that are geographically adjacent to or serve as primary access point to a unit of the National Park Service. That would be our Delaware Border Gap National
Recreation Area. Order number 3434 appears to be a detailed drill down of the Explore Act, excuse me, dealing with gateway communities. The Gateway Community Coordinator. Hang on here. This gets good. The Gateway Community Coordinator will facilitate
communications and coordinate with Gateway Community Leaders. I'm not sure who those comm community leaders are or how they are going to be selected, but within 180 days of order 3434 dated June 25th, the director shall submit an
initial report to the Secretary of the Interior with activity summations. Order 3434 also notes the challenge cost share program and the federal lands access program. Copies are enclosed for your
review. Please read between the lines and with skepticism as I have. I trust nothing in these documents that appear to provide improvements and protections. I see these proposed actions as dangerous precursors to commercial development, paid for performance
opportunities for concessions and possible intrusion of unwanted federal programs. I see a fun time dealing with the federal government in our backyard. And I just want to say I did discuss some of this with the mayor of Delaware Burough Waterg in Pennsylvania. He
doesn't understand any of this. I don't understand it. So you guys can wait to this and figure out what's going on with the Delaware Watergap National Recreation Area, the proposal to turn it into a national park and how all this Explore Act and Order 3434 comes down. I
see this as a real danger to us losing our Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area as we see it. I thank you for your time. [Applause] Whit from Hampton Township and tonight I
called my little rant uh putting out George HW Bush's thousand points of light with the August 7th executive order. Trump has once again launched an offensive to kill off as many nonprofit
501c3 charitable organizations as possible. Not satisfied with his January 2025 freeze of all federal grants and contracts that destroyed many organizations that could not survive the
time it took for the courts to order restoration of congressionally approved funds. He has now mounted a sweeping offensive on vital American nonprofits. Funding cuts, elimination of tax benefits, bureaucratic paralysis through
mass firings and chaos are among the tactics that have already cost the nation's nonprofits well over 10,000 jobs. Those that survive face a minefield of obstacles designed to eliminate them or
bring them to tow the MAGA party line of lies and misrepresentations. Even those that neither ask for nor receive federal funds are being attacked as their taxexempt status comes under review. Should you have the timmerity to
submit a grant application, every federal agency has installed a Trump lackey to screen your grant application for forbidden words and ideas. We know that a grant application that uses DEI,
transgender, or climate change in its proposal is dead on arrival. But the level of censorship and cause for denial has reached an almost comic level of absurdity. Consider this hypothetical example. How
is one to request funds for a grant from the National Science Foundation, for instance, to investigate pregnancy issues when the words women female are on the forbidden list of 108 words? Is
half our population only to be known as people that are not male? Do we want our government grant programs to abet Trump's sexist desire to erase women's power and influence wherever possible? Should you be granted funds, each
program comes with an open-ended termination clause that stops and clause back funding should you step out of line and not serve Trump's gold standard science or advance Trump's policy
priorities. You either serve the king or you don't survive. There are over 1.3 million nonprofits in America providing hospitals, housing, food, and educational progress to our nation. Trump wants them gone unless they become
his allies to reshape his country or our country to his undemocratic and perverted goals. Resist, speak up, tell the truth. You can find the list back there. Kathy Brennan, Hampton Township. I'd
like to start out first by um addressing the letter that was read at the end of the last meeting about from the woman who worked for the uh whatever that was. Was that the American Legion or whatever? Yes. Um, I would I would just like to
say um that the woman who authored that letter expressed fear rather than concern for the homeless that are on the green. Perhaps we should be doing more better things which you had suggested. Um, one of the things is when it seems
like whenever we get new housing in the area, it's extremely expensive and most people can't afford it. some housing, uh, drug care, you know, employment, all these things that could be helpful to people rather than just disparage them.
And also, uh, she also stated that there was a no kings rally on the green and that she said it drew busloads of outsiders. I can tell you for a fact from my own personal experience of being
there, there is no truth in that. The people who were there are Sussex County residents who are concerned about their country and their democracy. And I also would like to say that misrepresentation of things like this
are just harmful and perpetuate fears and anger when we should be doing things to try to unite to save our democracy. I still believe that we have more in common than what separates us. We all need to focus on our humanity and
compassion for our fellow man. And um now to change the subject to my favorite subject just a bit. Um when asked why I continued to shine a light on Commissioner Hayden's behavior for
it seems like. Um at this point my answer would be it's not that I expect him to change. Obviously I think at this point we all know he's not going to change. Um, but the reason why I continue to do it is because I don't
want us to change. I want our values to stay the same and I don't want us to be ignoring such behavior and allowing things like that to happen. That is not who we are and that is not who we should strive to be. Thank you.
Wendy Whipple, Andover Township. Good evening. Helen Hecman sends her regrets, but is unable to attend the meeting this evening, but she wants you to know that she is still a strong advocate for the Dennis Library project. I was here in June asking about plans for a temporary
site for Dennis Library while the building is under renovation. Thank you to Commissioner Degrroot for contacting me soon after the meeting to let me know that it was hoped that bids will be going out by the end of August. Since that time, you'll be happy to know that
a Friends of the Dennis Library group has been formed and is incorporated and is now working to support the Dennis Library. Thank you all for supporting the renovation plans for the library, which serves 27,000 people. I'll share some statistics that
highlight the branch activity provided for me by the Sussex County Library staff. While all the statistics that are listed here deserve your attention, I am most concerned about continuing the computer usage provided by the library.
From January through June of this year, there were 2,158 individual sessions for a total of 1,396 hours of computer usage. and we still have six more months to go in 2025.
Many people who use the libraries computers do not have any other means of electronic communication including a way to apply for jobs and also for employment training. Recently I visited the new bookmobile dot and as you can remember I was a
bookmobile librarian here and in charge of all the branch libraries and quickly realized that it would not be able to solve the connectivity issues during the construction phase. It's a wonderful service but it's not a replacement for a temporary satellite library. While
driving by the new Trinity Street annex purchased by the county from the Provident Bank, I was reminded of my time on the staff at the Milwaukee Public Library when we had a book pickup window that looked very much like the drive up window of a bank. Have you given serious consideration in
collaboration with the library staff to create a temporary satellite library in that bank annex? Taking advantage of this property which you already own, conveniently located within walking distance for many and parking for those who need transportation. Would seem there would be space for desperately
needed public computers and Wi-Fi service as well as a smaller book and multimedia collection. Other libraries could send materials to be picked up at that drive up window. It's my hope that this reuse of county owned space will be given serious consideration if it has not already been. We're grateful for
your support of this project and I ask now that you plan for the continuation of the service during the renovation period which is fast. Thank you. [Applause]
Good evening. John Ralphus Newton live in grave times as our democracy is under attack by the very person who swore an oath to protect it. How are we going to answer our grandchildren when they ask how we lost our democracy? It was not one big event but a series of
unconscionable acts by Trump and his accompllices that are chipping away at our governmental institutions. will tell our grandchildren that too many Americans accepted the unacceptable, made excuses for a tyrant, stood idly by as he destroyed our nation. We made
concessions that enabled him to grab power. We'll tell them the American people could have stopped it. Consider the following events and how you reacted to each of these threats to our nation. Trump pardoned the January 6 insurrectionists who attacked our seat of government, beat police officers, and
threatened to kill our elected officials. He rounded up innocent immigrants, ripped families apart, threw them in cages, and sent them to third world countries. He attacked political enemies, filing bogus criminal charges against them as retribution for his own
criminal trials. He employed the military against his own citizens, sent the National Guard to cities and parks just like the Newton Green for no other reason than to scare the American public and exert his power. He disrupted our
economy with tariffs and lied about big trade deals that never came to fruition. He told corporate leaders to eat the tariffs or risk threats to their businesses. He stopped congressionally mandated funding to schools, cutting muchneeded
programs for disabled and atrisisk children. Slashed government-ledd scientific research that supported our health and environment. He bered world leaders in the Oval Office, turning the US from a beacon of hope into a bully nation.
As Trump and his administration attack our governmental institutions, diminish our standing in the world, and threaten our way of life, I have not stood by and let it happen without a response. One minute. I joined an advocacy group, marched in the streets, called elected
officials, wrote postcards to fellow citizens, gave speeches, marched on the streets, held up protest signs, encouraged others to fight alongside me, and I'm considering running for public office. What did you do? What will you tell your grandchildren when they don't
have the opportunity to live in a democracy and suffer under an autocrat that takes away their rights, gives their wealth to the oligarchs, and destroys their health and safety? How will you look in your grandchildren's eyes and tell them you did nothing to stop Trump from creating a world full of
misery? [Applause] Hello ladies and gentlemen. My name is James Baldini from Sandiston. So uh had a great opportunity over last few months
to see you guys in action looking online watching the video. Heard a lot of comments from the same people I think that are behind me. And I got to tell you a little concerned at some of the uh things that have been said up here. I want to point out that a lot of things
I'm hearing here are the same things that I've heard for the last 10 years from the media. The same media that did the following. They said co didn't come from the Wuhan Institute. They said mask didn't work. Then they said they did.
They said the vaccine it worked and then it didn't. We needed a booster and then another and then another. They said the Coington kids were all racist. They weren't. They said the Duke lacrosse kids were rapist. They weren't. They
said that Trump was a Russian asset, a Hillary Clinton narrative paid for by Hillary Clinton. That's come out and that's been that's been found to be not true. They said that of course Russian collusion was
fake news. They said Juicy Smlette was beaten up and attacked by two white guys wearing MAGA hats that found out. We found out that was completely fake. It was two guys, two black guys who he hired.
I go I can go on and on, but let me say this. They said the media claimed that Trump said that, you know, he praised the white supremist at Char at um at Charleston. I'm sorry, at Charlottesville. Thank you. I appreciate
the the support there. But he didn't he didn't say that, but the media reported it. We can go on and on. They said that the uh that Joe Biden, non-compassment Joe Biden was sharp as attack. Yet here
we see he clearly wasn't. One minute. And during that entire time, he, you know, the media completely covers up that he stood there to have his 911 uh June on 2020 photo op and his
mishandling of leaving Afghanistan, got 13 service members killed. It also emboldened Putin to invade Ukraine. And it also allowed the anti-semites Hamas to get up there and kill a lot of Jews
on October 7th, rape and murder them. Ladies and gentlemen, I strongly encourage the people who come up here, take another look at the media because the media, that's just part of what I what I gathered. There's a lot more that the your media has been lying to you about. And I'm not saying the
conservative media is going to do any better. I'm saying do your own research. Find out the information. Listen. Thank you. By the way, you're all doing a great job. Keep it up. [Applause] Yeah. Mind the dominant heaven. I want
to do a little primer on fascism. I lived in Germany for nine years of my teenage years in the 80s. Amy Lenaf. A cult of personality is the result of an effort which is made to create an idealized and heroic image of a leader
which often leads to worshipful behavior. This leader becomes a symbolic figurehead for the nation. by Fur Princip. A belief that the leader's word is law,
that he is above the law, that he can make the law, that he can change the law, superseding legal or ethical constraints. identification of enemies, scapegoats as a unifying cause. During those times
they were the Jews, they were the disabled, they were the gay men disdain for the importance and weight of human rights. The supremacy of the military to combat resistance. Obsession with national security.
Powerful and continuing expression of nationalism coupled with a sense of national superiority and xenophobia. Emphasis on traditional values often including sex sexism, misogyny with women's roles
often limited to motherhood and homemaking. Disdain for intellectuals, the arts, arts and education are controlled and used to promote the fascist ideology while critical and independent thinking is totally discouraged. History gets manipulated and revised to fit their
ideology and achieve their political goals. Good. ARB [Applause] Michelle Van Allen Hardest. Um, Commissioner Carney, you had said uh
during your first speech that uh you had never seen this many people in the room. I've been here a number of times this year where we couldn't let everybody in. There were a lot of people here. Okay. But there were a lot of people here and um I would like to know uh when
that public hearing will be about the jail so that we have an ample time to understand and research and be ready. Um as far as Mr. Hayden goes, "If this man is still getting paid, and I know it's only another three months that he will be in office, if I didn't show up for my
job or I left early, I would be docked. I wouldn't get paid. I I don't understand how you can continue to pay this man. Um I appreciate the fact that you guys will pick up the slack because you're not bringing somebody else in to cover his job, right?" Okay. So, appreciate you picking up his slack and that's very unfair of him to do that to
you. um the the act that you want to participate in for insulin. Well, the president um dictator in charge said that he's going to reduce drug charges 1,500%. So, he's actually going to pay all of us for drugs, so he might not have to do that. Um but I think that a lot of
that's going to be federal and I don't even know that you're going to be able to do anything with that. Um the homeless people in the green, I've taken the opportunity to speak to a number of them. Jeff, um, Rick, Craig, there's been a few ladies there. These
are human beings. These are people that are down our luck. And I have to say, there's many, many people in this country that are one step away from that, losing their job. The way things are happening in DC right now, it it's you might have the grain filled with
these people. when I I stopped by last weekend to talk with him and uh there was a man walking around, one of the young men, he was picking up all the garbage, all the cigarette butts. He was cleaning up the park. He wanted it to be his responsibility that one minute
whoever left that trash there, he was picking it up. How do you know who broke the monuments and such? Fine, get them repaired, but who broke them? Do you do you know it was them? Do you have them on video? There's a lot of kids that hang out, too. So, um, please don't put that on them. That possibly
could be them. Um, and there's a resolution tonight, resolution A, that had money for the homeless situation. What is that money for? Is that um to try to get rid of them or is that try to help them? We already know the dictator in charge, he took a ride
through DC, didn't like all the homeless people, he said. So clean out their encampments, throw everything that they have in their own lives away and arrest them if we they don't accept help or they can't get help or whatever it is. We don't know what's going on in those people's lives, but here we are. Last thing I want to say is I know that
you're all Republican board here and that shouldn't make a difference because when you get elected, you represent all your constituents. However, what's going on in Washington is in time. The last thing I will say, you don't have to admit that you were wrong to vote for him, but you have to admit that you were
lied to. Thank you. Hi, uh, Christine Henry, um, Vernon Township. First, I want to thank you for, um, trying to move the executive session later. I do wish
would would uh see that. Um so I I want to talk about some national issues. Um we have a president that is an indicted criminal. He rolled out the red carpet literally for a war criminal who is
responsible for the kidnapping of thousands of Ukrainian children and the deaths of countless others. Putin is a murderous pariah and the US welcomes him on American soil. Putin tells Trump mail and ballots aren't
secure and Trump reiterates his lies. No country uses them. 36 countries use them. Trump claims Ukraine started the war. These are Russian talking points he's
reiterating. Ukraine invade itself. A former US ambassador to Russia claimed this was the worst example of diplomacy since he's been alive. Possibly, he
said, the worst in the history of the United States. I understand you have local issues that you deal with rather than national ones, but I ask that you stand up for what is right and what's truly American. And
what's not American is storming the capital, destroying not only lives, but our peaceful transition of power, which had been held securely throughout our history. What's not American is pardoning those
people, some of whom threaten the lives of police, Congress, and the vice president of the United States. One minute. What's not American is the hiring of Jared Weise as senior adviser in the Justice Department. Weise faced multiple
criminal charges due to his presence at the January 6 capital riot and is heard in video at the riot calling law enforcement Nazis and yelling kill them repeatedly. He now works in our justice
department. What's not American is the deportation of immigrants without due process. What's not American is the deportation of persons to war torn countries run by dictators. What's not American are horrific holding
pens and prisons where innocent people are tortured. What's not American is the backing of a genocide where the perpetrator nominated the president for the Nobel Peace Prize. What's not American are soldiers in our
streets standing on to American citizens. Thank you. John Snder Sanderson, I'd like to thank President Trump for what he's accomplished in 213 days.
jointed I guess last week we're starting now to try to end Biden's war with Russia and Ukraine. If you remember President Biden when asked about the buildup on the border before the conflict started.
As long as only a minor incursion he was okay with it. I guess a minor incursion to us might be New Jersey. Hey got 50 states that's only one. I guess that want to take New Jersey. Let him have
it. Talk about what's American. Is an American letting minor children decide if they want to change their sex and not
you know what's ironic and you got to stop here and all about Washington. Nobody sits here and interrupts you guys when you're talking whe stupid audience. Uh it's just it's
ironic. Uh it's ridiculous and quite frankly it's offensive. Let this gentleman have his comments just like you did and nobody interrupted you. Do it again. Someone's going to ask you to leave right now. Sit and listen. Let him have his nobody interrupted you.
A bunch of people are sitting in sitting here looking No, you stop. Thank you. Minor children in in many cases from what I understand don't notify the parents. So the parent doesn't even know some of these things
are going on, hormone blockers and whatever. That's American. Also, the word democracy keeps popping up. I know we had a lecture at the last meeting about it, but as far as I know, I live in a republic.
Pledge the flag at the beginning of the meeting to the republic for which it stands, not to the democracy for which it stands. Have some democratic principles. Yes, we have elections. We vote. live in a republic which pro protects us as individuals,
not as a group. Also, I like to thank Donald Trump for closing the border for illegal immigrants coming in. One minute. Just heard in the news this week about a man from California making an illegal U-turn.
Tractor trailer somehow got a CDL. Doesn't speak English. can't read signs, but he's responsible for three deaths. We talk about the crimes committed by
these illegals. Some people say come up and say, "Well, statistically speaking, they commit crimes at the same rate as Americans. Except that those people would be alive today if they weren't here." They don't like to use that argument
when it comes to firearms, though. shooting someplace. A lot of these people want to confiscate all weapons even though they statistically speaking it's very small the amount of percentage of people who do that. But I would once again want to thank Donald Trump for
what he's doing continues and that nobody else tries to take his life. Time else Well, that's because as a reporter, I'm here to report, not to comment during a
public session. However, today is my last meeting with you folks. I am taking Guanette's offer for um a buyout. They offered it companywide.
I got chosen here. What's going to happen with the Herald? I don't know. So, don't ask me. Um, you know, I'm the last one. So,
all those who have come up here before me and said this and those that said that and those that said, "You're both wrong. I'm right." Well, be glad you live in America. You have the right to come up and do
this. I'm glad that 60 years ago, um, I joined the Air Force, but I figured it was better to fly over Vietnam then crawl on my belly through it.
They sent me to Buxy, Mississippi. Okay. It's only 94 miles from New Orleans. I didn't know that at the time. I had no idea what an information specialist was.
I met with a colonel. Still had no idea what an information specialist was. He called in a sergeant. Understand this was 1966. The sergeant had
tons of stripes. He was yay high, yay wide, and had been in since World War II. As I'm walking out, he says, "Welcome. By the way, uh, do you like sports?"
Thought he was making, um, small talk. I said, 'Well, if it matters, I like the Red Sox and I like the New York Giants and I like the New England Patriots. Understand that they were in two
different leagues at that time. And he said, "Oh, good. You're our sports editor." That's how I found out that I was going to be a journalist. And now I am 60 years later. I've won
some awards. No fillers, but I have never in my whole entire life lied about anybody. I am not fake news. You say it, I print
it. That's what it is. And so it's yeah, I'm choking up because I just I love this, but I'm getting to an age where
wearing me down, being the only reporter in all of Sussex County by the Herald probably is going to disappear. But I can't speak for that because I'm not at but it's been fun and I thank you for
the last almost 20 years when there were freeholders up there not commissioners. Anyway, thank you all. Thank you. Director, can I say one thing? Yeah, 100%.
Bruce, I just want to thank you for your last 20 years of reporting. You literally like No, I mean 20 20 in Sussex County. You've been there for some of us best times of our lives and the worst times of our lives and tried to report it
fairly whether we always liked it or didn't like it. Thank you. You've been there for a lot for some of us for 20 years. Thank you. And and I'm getting choked up. I have no idea why. Who are you? Hi, I'm Herb Yardley,
former commissioner. Still couldn't do this when I was up there. Huh? Getting Listen, I just want everyone to know that uh without Bruce, we would not have had such things of knowing and I'm serious about this. All of the public
health issues we've had in the county, it was out there for the public to know this is what was going back to Zeke something like Ziku virus. You did a whole front page of that H1N1 when we had this before uh COVID when we had a
vac and you it was clear concise. We had a lot of articles uh public health and water problems and the Vernon area and all of those things. Um, and that was through the public health. And then as commissioner, we always looked at the
phone when you rang when it rang and we said, "Oh, it's Bruce." But we called you back and you wrote, "You didn't say Bruce." No, but um and I want to say um look back
and there were some times we very frustrating having to talk to you, but it's an important job that you did. And we were fortunate for those of you old-timers, we had a good newspaper that printed and we saw
things and and it was a a newspaper that said, "Hey, this is what's going on." and the public, I think, was more informed than we are now. And I want to say, Bruce, it was a great time working. I got to know you. You're a good guy.
And I hope you have a great retirement. And I'm still not going to give you a 12in. We're both golfers. Is there anyone else? Okay. Just just one more thing I had to get to. I I should have brought up a new business. We had a meeting on uh August 7th. I just want to bring it up because
I want to get this letter written. August 7th uh myself, engineering, Ron Tapen, Alex Rubenstein, Mayor Byroom, uh John Morgan, Andover Burrow, and Tom Walsh, Andover Township about Route 206, uh the bypass. I brought it up at the our last meeting a month ago. It wasn't
a good meeting. It was not not a good meeting. Uh they they're still looking to reroute 206. They're saying nine months. I'm telling you right now, it's not going to be nine months. It's going to be a long time. It's not going to happen for three or four years, which is good because keep in mind Lafayette on 15 will be starting in
October, right, mayor? Uh October. So, at least it's not simultaneously, which would be a big big problem. But that is a main artery. Uh the the the questions that the mayors had were, can we can we go to one lane, which is still not great, but it's way better than going
around and causing a lot of problems, not only for for the roads and the road maintenance, uh but for the businesses, the local businesses. It's going to hurt them. It's going to hurt them. I built 206 in Byum. That was a five-year project because of the DOT, if you guys remember that. And that really, really hurt businesses. I mean, you closed a
couple of them. So, what I want from the commissioners, what your support is to write a letter to the DOT recommending they don't uh reroute the traffic and go to a one lane bridge uh and also the governor to maybe get some uh some support in Trenton there. And we'll talk I'll talk to the legislators as well,
but um I I we can't be silent about this. This is this is a big problem for even if you don't live in that area, we're still riding those roads and it's a problem. So, if I can get your You need a motion. Yeah. A motion to to to write a letter. Thank you. Can I get a second? Second.
Second. Commissioner Space. All in favor say I. I. I. Oppos same. All right. Carries. We'll have that letter. I'll have that letter written. You guys can take a look at it and then we'll we'll bring it up for resolution at our next meeting. Sound good? Okay. Uh, anybody on that? No. All right. Motion to close the floor for
public comment. Return to regular business. So move. Commissioner Degru. Have a second. Deputy Director Space. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. Oppose. Abstain. Carries. 24. Course reminders, please check the county's website www.sussex.nj. us for meeting schedules. Number five is
the adjournment. Motion to adjourn the meeting. So moved. Deputy director space. You have a second. Second. Commission Commissioner Henderson. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. Oppose. Abstain. Carries. We are adjourned at 8:47. Part: 2
Good. That's good. >> I call this meeting to order. This is a commissioner meeting of August 20th, 2025 at 6 PM at the Sussex County Administrative Center Commissioner Meeting Room at One Spring Street, Newton, New Jersey. And a roll call. Deputy Director Space >> here.
>> Director Carney >> here. >> Commissioner >> here. >> Commissioner Hayden >> here. >> Commissioner Henderson >> here. >> Number three is a moment of silence and salute to the flag. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Number four is a public statement pursuant to the Open Public Meetings Act, chapter 231, PL1975, adequate notice as defined by section 3D of
chapter 231, PL1975, has been made by regular mail in email. Such notice being submitted on January 7th, 2025 from the administrative center of the county of Sussex located at One Spring Street, New Jersey to the following New Jersey Herald, Star Ledger, and Strauss News
and is also posted on a bulletin board maintained in the administrative center for public announcements and has been submitted to the Sussex County Clerk in compliance with said act. At this time, please mute all electronic devices. Commissioners, please remove your phones from the deis.
Number five is approval of agenda. Second a motion to approve the agenda. >> So moved. >> The deputy director space have a second. >> Second. >> Commissioner Degru. Any discussion? >> Discussion. Once again, I'd like to request that this board consider moving the executive board session to the end
of the meeting. I think on behalf of us, if there's something that we're not going to vote on and disc and a lot of discussion needs to be had, I think rather than be rushed knowing we need to come back and address a full group of people in a room, I'd rather see it move to the end of the meeting as it was in the past.
Okay. Any other discussion? All right. Do I have a second? >> Seeing none, the agenda will stay the same. Number six, proclamations, certificates, and presentations. Is there actually a motion to approve the agenda? >> Yes. I made the motion and second. All
in favor? I'm sorry. All in favor? All in favor say I. >> I. >> Oppos. Same. >> Vote carries. All right. Number six, proclamation, certificates, and presentations. We have a proclamation recognizing overdose awareness day and deputy director space will be reading that.
>> Whereas international overdose awareness day I a is recognized globally on August 31st to raise awareness about the risks of overdose honor the individuals whose lives have been lost and acknowledge the grief felt by families, friends, and the community. And whereas the county of
Sussex stands beside those who have lost loved ones to an overdose, those who have a substance use disorder and those who are in recovery or working toward recovery. And whereas the theme for IO A 2025 is one big family driven by hope.
Acknowledging that opioid death losses go deeper than one person, one family, or one neighborhood. Our lives as a community are deeply intertwined. And as a community, we share in the pain of the loss and in the power to change what comes next. And whereas the County
of Sussex through its overdose fatality review team seeks to identify preventable risk factors and missed opportunities for intervention and make policy and pro programmatic recommendations with an intent to prevent further overdose death. And whereas the county of Sussex opioid
sediment fund init initiatives, where am I? support overdose prevention and in the communitywide effort that has led to a decrease in opioid deaths in recent years and seeks to continue this downward trend through supporting prevention, education, treatment, and
recovery programs. Now therefore, be it resolved that the Sussex County Board of County Commissioners has rec recognized that Sunday, August 31st, 2025 is Overdose Awareness Day in recognition of International Overdose Awareness Day and encourages all of the citizens
throughout the county of Sussex to remember those who have been lost and support all of those affected by opioid use disorder by order of the county board of commissioners. Thank you. Lisa, you want to come up? Thank you so much to the board of commissioners for recognizing International Overdose Awareness Day.
I'm not sure if you know, but for our overdose fatality review team, Sussex County does their own next of kin interviews where we speak to the families of the people who have died from an overdose and they tell us they tell us what They wish the person had.
They also tell us about the person. They tell us about the amazing athletic accomplishments they had. brothers and sisters and uncles. How they lit up a room. How they were complicated but they had a great sense of humor and they were able to be and
how much they missed that. Thank you for so much for taking the time to honor them today. CFPC is having a memorial tomorrow for international overdose. Honor them also. Have time to attend. It's a sad inspiring event. Inspiring because we
know there's hope and we have an opportunity to learn from With our county opioid settlement fund committee, Sussex County is always working toward preventing substances. We fund programs that create resilience and problem solving in our children.
Have prevention programs for older adults that help them to know where to find help if they need it and avoid substance use problems that may make them more vulnerable to losing their we Get the word out on all the great
resources. Access them. Continue to pursue the ever list of transportation options by making sure we are using the resources we have and investigating. Carry the people who have died by overdose with us when we make our
decisions. Thanks for giving us a chance recognizing this important. >> Thank you so much. Really appreciate it. Next we have a presentation by Laura Ma Magora. Did I say that right? Laura >> Lauren says Laura. Why did I say that?
And I actually know that. Why did I even say that? >> That's okay. >> Uh from Barnlight Studios. She's going to give a little presentation about what we're doing in the county when it comes to >> Good evening. I'm here tonight to propose the formation of the Sussex
County Film Commission. Sussex is one of the most beautiful counties, as you guys know, in New Jersey. Our scenery speaks for itself. But beauty alone doesn't put us on the map, especially in the film industry. Action does. That's why we at
Barnlight Studios have begun producing a countywide drone project and film location catalog showcasing Sussex County as one of the most diverse and film ready destinations in the state. Film and television production is
booming across New Jersey, creating jobs, boosting businesses, and bringing recognition to other counties. A clear example is the production going on right now in nearby Blairestown. Sussex is ready to share in that success. A
countywide commission will make us more competitive, providing expert film production guidance and one clear point of contact contact for productions while still working closely with each town's local authority.
What truly sets us apart is not just our landscapes, it's our people. From construction and welding to automotive, culinary, hospitality, we already have the exact workforce that film production needs. Pair that with
our recent partners at Sussex County Community College and we can offer both immediate talent and future forward long-term workforce development to support sustainable growth. Forming a countywide film commission
ensures that we move forward with consistency and efficiency across all towns, making it easy for productions to choose Sussex County to film in. The industry brings in high returns with
low intensity, delivering new jobs, new revenue, and visibility for our community. With your support, Sussex County can take its place as a leader in the New Jersey film boom. Recognized not just for its beauty, but for what makes us
truly special, our talent, our community, and our vision for the future in film. Thank you. >> Thank you. Yeah, just just hold on, Laura, just real quick. So, just for the commissioners, I I do have a a sample
resolution here. Um, I know, uh, Commissioner Henderson, myself, we met with you at the fair for for for a few minutes. Uh, I I just if you guys are are good enough with with this resolution or you'd like to change something, I would like to put it on our next agenda um to support what Lauren
and company is doing at Barnlight. Um, I I think everything you said is good. I think it's good for the county. I know Mammoth County got about is about $400 million in in in uh production down there. Um it'd be nice to have a little piece of that over in Sussex. >> Exactly. >> Creating jobs and and bringing revenue
into into our our community as a whole. Um so, you know, we have a couple weeks before our next um meeting, but if everybody's good and we want to tweak something, you know, let let me know. But otherwise, uh you know, you have my my support. I know that. But >> I just want to say you have my support,
too. I'm not going to be at the next meeting, but you have my full support. >> Thank you very much. >> But thank you for coming in. I appreciate what you're doing. I think it it be awesome if this really booms and it's going to be helpful for everybody. >> Be pretty cool. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> We're very excited. >> All right.
>> Thank you for your support. >> Okay. Number seven, executive session. >> Uh Linda, you feel like reading this? >> I do. Resolution providing for an executive close session not open to the public in accordance
with the provisions of NJSA 10 col4-12 SEC. Whereas the subject matters 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 10 col4-12B and whereas it appears necessary for the board of county commissioners to discuss such matters 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 10 col4-12B and NJSA 10 col4-13 that the board at this time enter into
exe executive session from which the public shall be excluded and be it further resolved that the general nature of the subject to be discussed relate to the following items authoriz authorized by NJSA 10 col4-12B
as designated below. Number four, matters relating to collective bargaining agreements, PBA contracts. >> Okay. Number seven. Be it further resolved that the deliberations conducted in close session
may be disclosed to the public upon the 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 expects >> we may >> to maybe take formal action after
returning from executive session except to adjourn the regular meeting. So moved. >> Second. >> Say I >> We should be about 20 minutes. I'll be there in a minute as soon as I
can get this to stop. How are you?