barbara you ready you ready good job how are you good has a grandson Jeff grandson he's home good awesome last month nice so he's uh on a on his way nice okay in compliance with in compliance with the open public
meeting law I wish to state on April 11th 2025 the notice of this meeting of the upper township committee was posted on the official township bulletin board the upper township website emailed to the Atlantic City Press the Ocean City
Sentinel Ledger the Herald Times and file with the township clerk tonight's meeting is being video recorded up until the close session portion of this meeting and will be available in the upper township website i hereby direct this announcement be
made part of the minutes of this meeting would everyone please stand for the flag to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible
with liberty and justice for all please call the role mr cassaceio here mr nappen here mr sam Palumbo here mr zack Palumbo here mayor Corson present all the members of present has anyone everyone had an opportunity to review
the minutes from our March 24th Wangler in close session minutes yes would somebody like to make a motion m make the motion and I'll second it please call the roll mr casachio mr nappen yes mr san Palumbo yes mr zacho yes mayor
Corson yes motion carried all right we're time for like the reports here um Vic would you like to go first sure good evening everybody thank you so much for coming out as always uh just recapping
the past few weeks uh attended the Easter egg hunt with my family it was a wonderful event um I'm sure committeeman Sam Palumbo is going to be talking more about that so I won't steal his thunder i just thought it was a wonderful event and it was great to see the community out there uh something that I'm spearheading is and along with the
support of my colleagues is very simple and easy to read monthly recaps of what is going on up here uh we released the March one through our Facebook page and I think that's going to be the place we're going to continue to release that
it's a great way to just sort of get a handle on uh what what the committee's been up to if you're not dialing into every last little detail those are also posted on our website if you would like to see them the the minutes that Joanne does are absolutely amazing that are
posted but for you know your average person that just kind of wants to see you know what we've been up to I think these are very approachable user friendly and uh have gotten some some good feedback on those that's all I have for tonight sam you have any questions i
do um obviously as Vic already mentioned uh we had our Easter egg hunt a couple weeks ago um I would say it was a wonderful success uh great community event a lot of engagement we also had our egg packing um a few days before that just another
community event just to kind of get everyone excited for the Easter egg hunt itself um and also Ryan just informed me about the local recreation improvement grant uh that's going to be supplementing our athletic court
resurfacing project and it's $86,000 so very excited about that as well that's all I got for you there how do you do Mayor as you know two weeks ago you and I met with the owners of the Seagull Shopping Center we discussed many of the problems plaguing the shopping center how many town
citizens and members of the committee are disappointed in its current state uh was productive meeting she had committed to making many improvements going forward and more aggressively pursuing filling the vacant buildings in the complex uh they've already made some
minor improvements in that time and we anticipate some more major improvements in the future we emphasize the frustration of the town and uh the potential that that place could really recapture again like it did when it was first developed and it was
very productive that's all thank you sure from public works uh they're going to be closed on Good Friday so trash and recycle will be uh collected on Monday if you normally have a Friday trash pickup brush and
loose leaf collection starts today um Craig can you explain to me everyone about sticks because I know that's been a bone of contention what are you collecting sticks or like they have to be in a receptacle or anything okay
compost material second week last week just because this time of year it's a lot leaves don't stick in right so uh they're going to do one pass through the township uh they had
crossovers closed on Tuma north to Civio 9 most uh nine most uh most crossovers uh due to the continuing erosion i also want to thank public works in the wreck for the past Easter egg hunt uh at our last sports and wreck uh advisory
committee put together a presentation about the cost for the what public works does to maintain our fields here uh and you know we do a great job and we just want to keep it that way as but as best we possibly can that's it for me all
right thanks Zach um just wanted to report uh the final numbers are in from our Spielberg production that was in town and um the township because our facility use agreement and all that we actually uh
were able to charge rent and public works and primarily Larry Cole sorted it out to the township ability because of the space we rented them and the working with them we uh had total of $19,500 worth of income from the
Spielberg production plus they also uh donating to the recreation trust fund approximately $2,000 and the Upper Township Rescue Squad was there and they made a donation to 6225 to the upper township rescue
squad because they had an EMT on the volunteer side there all doing production so that was basically uh for 29 28,000 dollars income that the township derived from it so that was a
good thing so at this time that's all I have and move right down the line here to keep things moving joe do you have anything for us to know joe before we do that I just Oh okay so I know we received the notice today uh we originally going to talk in close session about at least one personnel
matter uh Rice notice was sent to uh Miss Rhonda Sharp miss Sharp indicated that she wanted to have her matter discussed in open session uh and given that I believe the administrator may weigh in uh on the role at some point I think it's best to conduct go a little out of order and conduct any um
discussion related to Miss Sharp uh her job and the close session item for personnel at this time she wants it done in open session pursuant to the Rice notice waiver so we can take it a little out of order i think that's where we should head right now
mayor uh John John uh summed it up pretty well our our our assistant personnel officer has uh submitted a resignation from that position obviously it's one of a few that that that she holds uh and that uh uh the committee
should act as soon as possible to uh uh find a replacement um the bureau uh the township code indicates looking inside first and we'll try to do that but it's a very necessary position and uh we should move forward uh as soon as
possible to fill that fill that spot okay at this time do we have to I guess we accept the letter of resignation or just stands on its own we can do that not required to issue it you don't have to formalize a vote to accept it but can
do so if you'd like to it's certainly at your leisure okay okay okay uh also mayor uh uh our EMS chief has requested to go to a five-day training session alongside Ocean City Fire Department's EMF EMS
chief Mr brown um it's a field training officer program it's conducted in Hamilton uh and it's June 2nd to 6 it's cost of $650 i would make that recommendation that he I'd like to make a motion that we approve John to do that
training i'll second that please call the RO mr cassaceio yes mr nappen yes mr sam Palumbo yes mr zack Palumbo yes mayor Corson yes motion carried and one last item uh mayor and committee uh as as Councilman uh Bumbo said that
uh public works has recommended that we close down uh um some of the some of the beaches from Tacoma North uh due to the erosion problem uh I forwarded over to uh the joint insurance fund a sample
sign that we should put up i'm waiting on them to return the call craig has worked on it um something to effect like store damaged area beach access not permitted at this point uh the wooden groins are exposed it's it's it's a
dangerous situation so we hope that some of the sand will come back but in the short term now all right we'll keep an eye on it and hopefully we can get some open before beach season thanks Joan i have nothing thank you john you
have I do Mr mayor um just for the benefit of the board and the public um recently we received a letter from ACT engineers related to Beasley's Point Development Group and the the Beasley's Point Development Project as many people uh know about uh what the notice is is a
notice to the Department of Environmental Protection for a CAFER permit so it is not a permit that's being issued by the township but it's one of many layers of administrative approvals that are going to be required to develop there they're going about trying to obtain that first what they've done and they're required to do is send
a notice to everyone that lives within 200 feet of that property related to it so you're not all going to get it but there may be some people in this room if you live in that area that will get it so we wanted to just let you know as to what this is it's not a township application it's not a township permit
that is being sought right now it is a CAFRA permit from the state of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection the other thing to note is that the plan comes with a reduced size i'll call it a site plan concept plan of the proposed development and also information related to exactly what
amenities and number of units they're seeking to put in there again this is not something that's been approved by this township as of yet so it's subject to change um but they are putting it out there now and asking CAFRA for a permit based on these numbers and these different types of amenities and units
so just be aware this has to go through a lot more u bureaucracy there's a lot more layers of approvals that are necessary before this becomes a reality uh but before you saw it on Facebook or anywhere else we just wanted to let you know that we're aware of it uh and that there's a lot more to go that's all I
have Mr mayor thank you John sure what do you have i have nothing this evening all right we're down to Ryan thank you Mr mayor i'll keep it quick for tonight as Sam mentioned uh great news township has received the local recreation improvement grant for
$86,000 uh so that 86,000 will be added to the athletic court resurfacing project budget uh really to increase the scope as we discussed to allow for additional pickle ball court and an expanded area of uh the pickle ball court area um the plans for the project
it's currently in internal review uh the bid specifications I'll say for the fencing improvements uh we are now targeting May early midMay to get that out to bid with construction anticipated in June that that's all I had for tonight
thank you at this time we'll open it up to the public does anyone from the public have any comment on the agenda items below at this time hearing no public comment on the agenda items we will close the public portion of the meeting
and we will turn it over to uh Le or no me first joanne has something she has statement she has to read and then we will introduce our budget a few things for the first is the public hearing and final adoption of ordinance number one 2025 calendar year 2025
ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a cap bank so it's a public hearing we need to open Yeah at this time we're going to open it to the public there is there anybody in the public that would like to comment on public on our uh ordinance number one of
2025 hearing no public comment we will close the public portion and entertain a motion to adopt ordinance number one of 2025 motion to approve second please call the role mr casaceio yes mr nathan yes mr
sam Palumbo yes mr zach Lumbo yes mayor Corson yes motion carried then we have a resolution authorizing the reading of the 2025 annual municipal budget by title only i'll make a motion second please call the role mr casaceio yes mr nappen yes
mr sam Palumbo yes mr zack Palumbo yes mayor Corson yes motion carried and now we have the 2025 budget public hearing okay okay this time we're going to turn it over to Barber yep we'll do a quick little uh budget overview for everyone
um Ryan's gonna help me out here okay um the budget is increasing by 500 a little more than $594,000 or I'm sorry the tax levy um um and that is uh it equates to 2.9
cents um factors really are um a big factor is we lost $645,000 in state aid um we have debt service payments and employee costs that factor into the budget um the next slide
um the township portion of the budget um one penny is equal to a little more than $192,000 average home is assessed at just a little over $290,000 which means that the average homeowner is going to see an increase of
about $87 a year or $7.25 25 cents for the month the next slide um the township collects about $45 million in taxes and of that $45 million that we collect um a
little bit more than 13.5% comes to the township um almost 5% goes to the fire district county collects just under 15% and the school collects about 67%
so that's a quick overview um if Leon has anything to add to that and then uh thanks Barbara only to add that the $645,000 that you lost uh every single town lost that revenue not just Upper Township the governor did not fund that
amount this year so it leaves holes for people that were dependent on that the uh the good thing is it's you're not going to depend on it next year so we start off with a base of zero and we're not going to get hurt on it next year you reduce some capital things to make this budget work as it is uh without
that decrease we wouldn't had a tax increase that really took the the wind out of the sales for upper township the financial stability is very good though it's not we're not doing anything to harm the future on this and the two cents is required and if you have read
in the papers you see the paper guy here um I'm in all these towns and two three four cents has been the average all across the board as you know everything's gone up there's nothing's gone down um it's where we're at right
now in the economy and I know for sure this is my 51st year doing this that next year you're going to spend more money into this year it It's just that's the way it's going to be so it's a good budget uh obviously was no public comment uh Barb's done a great job
putting all this together and you've got a good budget to stand on for the future any of my colleagues have any questions no question from me at this time because I guess we need to open to the public to the public does anybody in the
public like to comment on our 2025 budget natalie so I'm curious like how the board participated in um this budget the how they participated in it well as you know um the budget process probably
started September of October September or October of last year started putting packets of information together started securing information and and securing it and then uh put the numbers were given to Barbara
barbara sends the numbers to Leon everything's put together each and every one of us at various times throughout January i if you need to know the exact dates I can get them for you but it won't be right now um we sat down
with uh Leon and his office and went line by line item and they had a basic understanding and an explanation for the budget and then it was introduced what a month ago a month
ago and that's where we are today okay and um you said October or November it started so you and Victor Napping were here the other three were not here natalie Natalie how it begins is in
October i send out notices to the department heads to send me their budget requests that's how it starts in January when we have the new committee members um that's when they get copies of the budget i've got everything put together they get copies of the department's
request plus um the budget proposal and then we go from there so it's January when the committee actually sees it but I start working on it a couple months before that okay um well it just seems to me last year
there was a um pretty good presentation given um and I don't feel like we had any of the I'm sorry we didn't meet your expectations next year we'll try better harder next year
okay thank you blanch Adams um from Steelmantown just a question i was pondering um the potential next year for the Beasley's Point development and then you're working really hard with Cedar Square to bring businesses in there just how does
that impact our our future next year like how does that I was just curious like I don't know what part of that increase we either increase revenue I know or decrease expenses but would that be significant at all yes it
will be significant once Beastley's Point becomes developed and becomes on a tax hole but it will not be in next year's budget um and it is in a redevelopment so there could be multiple ways they could be taxed but the
township does anticipate something from that and and I um appreciate that you're working to fill Cedar Square because that's got to help the business community definitely we we do have some ideas and we are working close with the developer all
right great thank you is there anyone else in public this time we'll close the public portion and entertain a motion to adopt our 2025 budget i just have the resolution join as a state be it resolved by the township committee of the township of
upper county of Kate May that the budget here and before set forth is hereby adopted and shall constitute an appropriation for the purposes stated of the sums therein set forth as appropriations an authorization of the amount of 6 million212,542.99 for municipal
purposes that would need the motion now i'll make a motion second please call a roll mr casaceio yes mr nappen yes mr mr sam Palumbo yes mr zack Palumbo yes mayor Corson yes motion carry then we just have one more resolution for the budget it's the local unit budget
examination make the motion i'll second please call the roll mr cassaceio yes mr nappen yes mr san Palumbo yes mr zach Palumbo yes mayor Corson yes motion carry
very good thank you Leon thank you sir see you soon yes okay we have the consent agenda all consent agenda items listed below are routine in nature and will be enacted by one motion if the mayor or any committee member wishes a particular agenda item to be considered separately it will be
removed from the consent agenda and acted on separately motion to approve the consent agenda second mr cassaceio yes mr nappen yes mr sam Palumbo yes mr zach Palumbo yes coren yes motion carried under new business we
have Steelmantown Church a New Jersey nonprofit corporation request to purchase Township owned land block 10 lot 175 ryan do you have anything yes so uh as indicated Steelman uh Town Church has submitted a request to purchase township
owned property uh it's block 10 lot 175 steelman Town Church currently owns the adjacent property uh this is township owned lot it's completely wooded it doesn't have any environmental constraints they are looking to purchase
a property to expand the horse pasture that they have on the adjacent lot uh so really at this point I'm just looking for a motion to move forward with an appraisal for the property um all the fees will be paid for by the applicant
once the appraisal is completed then we'll bring it back to the committee for review so it's a nonprofit so it's basically a piece that's not on the tax roll now because township owns it and it'll
remain we won't derive any taxable income nope you you would if he purchased it you would it will be taxable it's nonprofit if Well it looks like the applicant is an individual okay it's not a church it's a a nonprofit
they still pay tax okay so it will be a taxable okay okay well I guess it's up to the pleasure of having the body here would you like to proceed with this or Sounds good to me i'll make a motion second
let's call to roll mr kasachio yes mr nappen yes mr sam Palumbo yes mr zack Palumbo yes mayor Corson yes motion carried number 29 Upper Township Democratic Club requests the use of the Township Senior Center for monthly meetings
um I don't foresee any problem with that John does it meet our facility use agreement yes it would no issue what do we It's fine with me i'll make a motion there you go second call for Mr cassaceio yes mr nappen yes mr sam
Palumbo yes mr zack Palumbo yes mayor Corson yes motion carried okay what's your pleasure on the bills gentlemen um I have to abstain from a couple bills tonight mayor to abstain from bill
25-00185 bill 25-00173 and bill 25-00222 okay please let the record indicate that Tyler will be voting on all but those three bills thank you i think I'm getting reimbursed for my fingerprints
for coaching do I have to abstain from that why not probably safe to do that okay I'll abstain uh the recck department is reimbursing me for training to be a coach and my criminal background check which came back clean well that's a good thing babe i'm proud
of you all right uh I got you i hereby move that all claims submitted by for payment at this meeting be approved and then incorporated in the full in the minutes of the meeting second please call the role mr cassaceio yes mr nappen yes mr sam Palumbo yes mr zack
Palumbo yes mayor Corson yes motion carried with the exceptions that were discussed okay at this time we'll open it up to the public is there anyone in the public that would like to address the tension committee is there anyone in the public if not we're going to close the public portion
of the meeting and entertain a me motion to go into close session i hereby move that a resolution be incorporated into the minutes authorizing the township committee to enter executive session for the following matters pursuant to open
uh public meetings act for the matters one contract negotiation tax map maintenance services two contract negotiation engineering services three contract negotiations CMC MUA host community benefit agreement i also
include in my motion the estimated time and circumstances under which the discussion conducted in closed session can be disclosed to the public as followed and it is anticipated that the matters discussed in the closed session may be disclosed to the public upon the termination of township committee with
the public interest will no longer be served by such confidentiality b with respect to employment and personnel matters such discussions will be made public if and when formal action taken involvement in consent that may that can be public see with respect to contract
negotiations such matters shall be made public when negotiations have ceased and there is no longer a reason for confidentiality second please call the role mr cassaceio yes mr nabin yes mr sam Palumbo yes mr zach Palumbo yes mayor Corson yes mr car let the record
indicate we're going to take a fivem minute break and our close session is scheduled it'll be at least 6:30 7:30 it'll be at least 8:30 before we come out of close session because we have a couple interviews you're more than welcome to stay
you'll have to wait in the lobby and uh if you want to stay I would suggest you go get a pizza or something if you get a pizza bring something back oh now you want to have