We're going to get going here in compliance with the open public committee law. Folks, we're going to begin. We're going to start our meeting. Okay. In compliance with the open public committee law, I wish to state that on May 9th, 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 Regger, the Herald Times, and followed with the Township
Parted up until the close session portion of the meeting and will be available on the township website. I hereby direct that this announcement be made part of the minutes of this meeting. Would everyone please stand for the pledge 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. Joanne, will you please call the role? Mr. Cassaceio, here. Mr. Nap, present.
Mr. Sam Palumbo, here. Mr. Zach Palumbo, here. Mayor Corson, present. Present. Has everyone had an opportunity to review the minutes from April 28th, the regular and close session minutes? Yes. Motion to approve. Second. Please call the role. Mr. Casaceio, yes. Mr. Nappen,
yes. Mr. Sam Palumbo, yes. Mr. Zack Palumbo, yes. Coren, yes. Motion carried. Okay, we're going to move things around a little bit tonight before we get report to the governing body members. I have Mr. Zach Palumbo here.
We he is prepared a uh summary of what's happening for the beaches. A lot of people are concerned about the beaches. There seems to be a lot of emails. So, we have prepared a PowerPoint presentation. And I'd like to thank the people that helped make
facilities. Barbara Ludy and and Joanne and Joe and a couple other people. I mean there's was a conglomerate conglomeration effort. So I will turn it over to Zach and Zach if you and if any we're not going to have when we have public portion of the
meeting we will take comments on this until then but this is where we're going to start with this. Okay. Thank you Mr. Mayor. Uh so good uh good evening everyone. Uh just I know that you know Strathmore beaches are the biggest concern right now as we come up to uh
Memorial Day weekend and we have a few you know not just residents but we also have summertime visitors. We have beach patrons that come on there. So we have been addressing this issue pretty much from the onset since uh we've all been sworn in and we're going to just go
through a few things. As the mayor pointed out, we're going to hold off all questions until the public comment of the agenda item of a portion of this meeting. All right, just to get through a few uh you know, so we can keep uh everything flowing. All right. So, the purpose of this presentation uh just
basically give you an indu uh introduction about what's going on, what the committee has done, timeline of events, uh visuals of the damage, so that way the public is aware, and then also the actions taken, and then the final takeaways is kind of like how we're going to wrap it up right before Memorial Day
weekend. All right. So, uh just as I said, in January, Upper Township Committee had three new committee members. Um Mr. Cassio, Mr. Sam Palumbo and myself, we were sworn in uh Jan on January 3rd. Uh Mayor Corson spoke to the importance of protecting the beaches
and properties of Strathmir and you now have five committee members committed to the protection of Strathmir. I know m uh Mayor Corson has you know invested interest over there. My uh my cousin Sam was a lifeguard in upper township. I was
you know my father was mayor uh for upper township. you valued Strathmir and and that's on there and you have five advocates for Strathmir right now up on the township committee just to give you an idea of what has been done in the past with uh
tax dollars uh we had the Rock Wall uh reventment at close to $93,000 or 9300 90 $930,000 sorry I'll get Yeah I'm sorry yeah I'm a little rusty on the PowerPoint presentations anyway We had
the beach replenishment at 1.2 mil. We had the beach replenishment in 2019 at 650,000. And then we had a joint uh two-year venture of 1.3 million uh over there at Strathmir. It wasn't a two-year venture, it was just happen over here.
Okay. Why we value Strathmir? uh Strathmir tax assessment in 202024 $322 million was assessed the taxes seven million was collected to go through township as a superintendent of two schools two school districts the $5
million uh purse right there for the schools uh would be amazing for me to have and I think upper township de definitely benefits from that um revenue that we get in there but the important number is the local municipal
tax, right? That was $950,000. That's what stayed in upper tension to work up, right? The rest was paid through. So, just to give you an idea, these are some figures what it cost to keep uh Strat flowing during the
course of the year, you know, open so to speak. You know, you have your portable toilets, you have your beach patrol, you have your parking enforcement. Uh we had a sewer study done. Uh we have EMS that's available not just from the township but also at a joint venture with Ocean City. So all this all this
will be public record as well. That was all spent last year and this will be on our website. Yes. So the timeline since the swearing in as a township committee as I said January 3rd May Corin address the public about the beach erosion March 7th uh Mr.
Corson public works uh captain of I'm sorry chief of the beach patrol Bill Hanley uh members of the shmeir volunt volunteer fire department were there and myself we met with the D of what could be done uh move forward with the replenishment. Uh we were not given any specifics other than the fact that we
should document as possible. Literally the next day uh I had a family friend fly a drone took footage of the damage that was done on the north end and we put it out there. Uh on April 14th uh we saw that the erosion damage uh went all
the way to Tcuma Avenue. So we had to close off the uh the pathways there. On April 15th uh Mr. Mr. Cassachio and myself uh impromptuly met met with Mr. Vandrew or Congressman Vandrew uh and talked about the issue and we followed
up with email correspondents to see what we could do from our from uh from the federal level. Um, April 18th was Good Friday. Uh, I took, uh, pictures myself of the damage that was gone. We actually just had a full moon, high tide. That was on April,
uh, 12th, I believe. And we, you know, saw even more damage that was on there. And I actually have, we'll have pictures later on the slides show for this. On April 28th, uh, Ryan, our township engineer, filed an emer uh, permits to be done. We still have yet to find
anything from the D on that. Uh on the 5th, Mayor Corson again uh with Mr. Veron, uh Mr. Hanley, Mr. Jones, and Mr. McNeel and uh the Ryardens and myself, all via virtual. I was there virtually.
Uh we surveyed the damage on May 5th. Uh we're going to we we're going over what we can and cannot do. Uh dunes constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers need to have federal permits to be reconstructed. So what anything that is done by the uh army corps of
engineers we cannot touch. Uh today March uh is actually our meeting and this is where we're at. We're giving this information to you. Also today is also a full moon day. So we're going to have uh a survey of pictures of what's going to happen after the full moon. So
that's where we're at as of today. I know Curtis wants to jump in. There's been a change as of recent. We have uh item number 30 on our agenda is a piece of equipment, but we are taking delivery of that Wednesday. Okay. So, just to
jump over back. So, this is the pictures uh from the 18th of Good Friday. So, this is the Williams uh walkway. You can see that damage. And this is north of Williams. Uh just to give everyone a a like an optics. I'm six foot three and
uh the selfie itself that's me up against the dune up the north end of the island just so we know how how much of a a cliff drop that's going to be. Um this is Vincent Avenue that right there the uh chair was like kind of the marking point there. It's about a 4ft drop right
there at the time of the picture. Uh and this is Trooma which was uh about a three-foot drop on from there. Again, just another picture from the walkway at Williams that that's there. All right. So, the actions taken
for up to coming to 2025. So, we have an emergency authoration permit uh insurance anticipating within the next two weeks. We still do not have one. Correct, Mr. McNeel? That's correct. All right. So, we're hoping to get that with anytime in
the near future. We do have emergency vehicle access points. Willard and Sar will be modified by public works to allow for emergency vehicle access. Uh we're going to have pedestrian access points on Tacuma, Vincent, and Webster. And that will be met modified for
pedestrian access. Modifying pedestrian access for four to five foot path at Williams will be re-evaluated over the next few weeks. And then all access points including and north of Williams will be closed for the season. And again, those are the areas
that were the uh Army Corps of Engineers. So finally for as Mayor uh Corson hinted uh we're going to be doing surveying of the potential damage after tonight's full moon. We're still awaiting the decision and on resolution 30 on on our consent agenda. You're
going to see uh the renting of a bulldozer for the summer that will be operated by Upper Tag Public Works. It's going to be parked at 1400 Commonwealth Avenue in Stratere. There's going to be constant communication between the uh beach patrol and public works in regarding to the pathways that need to
be resculpted. And I'm going to ask residents and patrons that you know some patience and be aware that the possibility of the bulldozer being used during optimum times i.e. not during high tide so that way we can own there. So, I know that the back ending of the
bulldozer at 8:00 in the morning probably isn't the best thing that people want to wake up to, but it's all about trying to make sure that those pathways are preserved from that. So, I'm going to thank everyone for their patience through this. Uh, you know, I try to keep my stuttering to a minimum
and also I'm going to submit this for the upper tip committee agenda uh as of effective today and that will be posted on our website which will be tomorrow. So that will be available and we ask that you share that amongst your different organizations so
people actually get the facts and know the facts instead of a lot of stuff that's been out there that has not been factual. But one of the big things we had we had obviously our insurance carrier was
involved north of Williams cannot be opened. It is not safe with the scarfing 6 to 8 foot scarfing. If we make an access point there and somebody actually comes down there and gets buried in the sand on a dune that we can't touch, which people
have been seen and have been photographed letting their children climb up the dunes in the scarfing. If a child's buried in the sand, they will die. Simple. Sand is a lot
worse than water and uh they people need to take responsibility for their children and keep them away from the scrum. So we're going to get back on our agenda right now. It's going to start with reporting governing body. Sam, do
you have anything for us tonight? I do. Thank you, mayor. Uh I'm happy to report that Upper Township will be having a fireworks celebration. Uh we won't will not be having it on July 4th this year. It will actually be on June 28th and the rain day will be June 29th. Uh there
will be free parking and the gates will be opening at 4:00 at Amanda's Field. Uh I am very excited for this and I know my fellow committee members feel the same way and I've gotten a lot of good feedback from uh members of the community as well saying that they're excited that they can actually attend
July 4th fireworks. Not on July 4th obviously, but on June 28th. So that's all I got for you. Okay, Victor, do you have anything for us tonight? I sure do. Good evening, everybody. Thank you so much for coming out to our meeting this evening. Um, I had a good phone call this week with Frank Donado from Ocean
City's emergency management coordinator. We'll be having something to present to you guys very soon. Working on all of our different part departments being ready if and when there was any type of major emergency. Uh you'll notice a lot of EMS hires on the consent agenda. That
is a testament to incredible work done by our chief John Britain coordinating, finding us wonderful candidates to keep the township safe. It's a busy time of year. We hire lots of part- timerrs and uh did a a great job with that this
week. Uh baseball opening day, I attended as a resident, so I want to thank the township for putting together a great baseball opening day. The kids had a blast. There's a picture going around. They had A, B, and C lead kids, the Royals, the athletics, the Phillies all together. It was an incredible
amount of people out there. It was fantastic. On the IT front, we're shoring up and smartening up the way that we're doing things from an IT standpoint. Should have some things specifically to say about that next week, but just to say that we're working
on our protocol and how we do things. Um uh ne finally I should say um I received an email from a resident that couldn't be here tonight. So I want to read in part what she wrote me. Uh it's Tara Garner. She's a co-owner of Luna Souls and Bowls. Uh it's a small family-run
business at Greenfield Plaza. Um they're having an issue with their flags. Um this was something that was brought at the planning board level. Um, she says, "Until recently, we were never told there was an issue with our flags, but this past September, uh, received code
violations referencing code 20.5-10, which limits flag display to two 30-day periods over the year, and summarize the rest of her email since the flags have been removed. She's seen a significant drop in her foot traffic. Um, I personally think that there could
be maybe some sort of uh agreement between two parties and try to figure out a a way for our small businesses to promote and at the same time not be a visual nuisance. So, uh, Mr. Amanhauser, yeah, how do we proceed with with that? So, that's um it's a amendment to the
zoning ordinance. So, anytime you're going to do that, um, what I'd recommend doing is if it's at the pleasure of the governing body, I'd introduce an ordinance. You guys can introduce it at this level, refer it to the planning board for comment, and then prior they'll have a 30 to five day period to comment. If they look favorably on it
and you decide to move forward, you can then adopt it uh through a final public hearing thereafter. Well, I think the ordinance was written by the planning board. Maybe we should ask them to forward this email to the planning board and take a look at it. It could go that way as well. Just the referral has to be
made to that body before you guys could take any formal action on adoption because it's got to go there anyhow. So, we're going to change the ordinance or make an amendment. Yep. Excellent. Um, I think that would be the way to do it. Would you like to make that informal motion when you refer to the planning board? Sure. I'd like to
make a motion that we refer the flag ordinance back to the planning board uh in order to try to satisfy our small businesses. So, I I I just phrase it as uh you're making a referral to the planning board for potential amendment to uh Upper Township Municipal Code section 20.5-10 related to flag
displays. We'll do it that way. Form the motion. Please call to roll. Mr. Cassaceio, yes. Mr. Nappen, yes. Mr. Van Palumbo, yes. Mr. Zack Palumbo, yes. Mayor Corson, yes. Motion carried. And that's all. Thank you all. Zack, do you have anything else for us
tonight? No. Other than public works is doing a bangup job and I can't wait for the summer. That's it. Okay. Kyle, do you have anything for us tonight? Yeah, we briefed Mayor. I attended town business association had a mixer uh at Luna Sultan Falls, which is Tara's business there. She and I discussed the flag issue uh extensively when I was
there and I just was nice to be with other business members of the community, business members of the town, hear their concerns, complaints and uh what's going on. It was a nice event and uh everyone go check out Luna Souls and Bowls. They have great food, healthy food and uh
Tara's a great lady. Anything fried? Nothing fried. All right. I don't have anything at this time and we'll move right along. Joe, do you have any for us? I have a couple quick ones, mayor. Um, most of it is dealing with Strathmir and uh, uh,
Committeeman Bloomberg really uh, hit it hit hit the nail on the head there. We've been working hard. Public works has been extremely busy trying to get signage for the summer, get uh, everything in in uh, in order. Uh, Ryan has been working hand inand with public
works and and the beach patrol. Um, so we hope to be uh um dealing with these summer issues for a short period of time and then it'll just be maintenance during during the summer. Um uh we've been doing a lot of other summer issues
other than Strat Beaches. The beach patrol has been gearing up uh summer help uh for public works and and some of the other departments uh and and we've been doing beach EMT interviews. John Britain, our chief, has uh uh done a
great job putting together a team that's going to make sure the beaches are in Strathmore are very safe this summer. Um I I know you're reporting on it soon, but uh JPM has kind of done its recruitment process, has completed it. Uh you you you folks are making your
decision this evening, but I want to thank you for being ready and uh able to do this over a shorter short period of time. Um, and I'm also preparing a transition plan over the next couple of weeks uh when when uh the new
administrator takes office. So, we we work that out and uh and they will hit the ground running. And you still have a couple more meetings. I have a couple Well, I don't know. At least one, maybe one. Thank you, Jo. Oh, I'm sorry, Mayor. I'm
sorry to interrupt. Uh we have a request from the EMS department for uh training. Uh it is uh in Hamilton at the public safety training of South Jersey building. Um it's uh for uh EMT
refresher A, B, and C up to 10 students. And it's a $4,200 bill over the course of uh of several several sessions. I'd like to make a motion that we approve that request for the training money budget as they go forward. Yes. Yes. As
we have money budget, I will second that. Please go to RO. Mr. Cassaceio, Mr. Nappen. Yes. Mr. Sam Palumbo. Yes. Mr. Zach Palumbo. Yes. Mayor Corson. Yes. Motion carried. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Joan, do you have anything? Just that the last day to register to
vote in the primary election is May 20th. The applications are available in my office or on our website or at Kate May County Votes. And the primary was moved to June 10th this year. Just so if you haven't heard, June 10th is the date. All right. Thanks, Joey. John, do
you have anything tonight? Nothing right now. All right, Barb, do you have anything tonight? I have one thing this evening. Um Sarah in my office is continuing her CFO classes. Um we have current fund accounting coming up for the summer for her. um
$760 for uh looks like five weeks of classes. Um just need your approval, please. I would like to make that in form of a motion. Anytime we have an employee that wants to go to school and better themselves and advance their career, I think it's a good thing. Second, Mr. Casaceio, yes. Mr. Nappen, yes. Mr.
Sam Palumbo, yes. Mr. Zack Palumbo, yes. Mayor Corson, yes. Motion carried. Thank you. That's all I have. Brian, do you have any words tonight? Yes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh update for athletic court resurfacing project demolition and site preparation works by public works has
been underway. Um we're expecting them to wrap up within the next few weeks. The next step is to get our fencing improvements sent out to bid which I'm planning to get out uh with Joanne and Barbara's help within the next two weeks
in order to proceed with full construction in June. Um, and still targeting by August, September, end of construction for it to be fully up and running. Perfect. Uh, and another quick update for Putinham Avenue. We had some
good news from DOT. They did approve our extension. Uh, so we have until November of this year to award that project for construction. That's all I had for tonight. What's the status of Mill Road? Mil Road construction. Uh, I have to
I'll have to follow up with the county on that one. Um, and I I'll have that for next meeting. All right. If you can let me know in the meantime. Absolutely. Absolutely. Thank you, Ryan. Okay. Uh, at this time, we're going to open it
to the public. Is there anyone in the public that would like to comment on agenda items only or with the beach item? Please step forward. State your name for a record. Natalie Nice. 759 Route 50. Um I'm wondering if you could
speak to uh 28 and 29 um the exempt property tax and also on number 27 about the affordable housing. If you could explain something about that. Okay. 28 and 29 are 100% stable veteran. 20.
Did you hear that? 28 and 29 are 100% disabled veterans. And number 27 is the affordable housing payments. Uh we're required by resolution to approve any payments from the affordable housing trust fund. And what I don't understand what do the
payments go for the they can be paid for professional fees incurred. There's a variety of different things statutoily that they can go toward. But if we have professionals working on the township's behalf related to affordable housing, their payment is issued from that fund if there's funds available.
the the funds don't come from the budget. They come from the affordable housing trust fund. So, um that's not included in the bills list then. No, it's on it's on the resolution. Is that done on a monthly basis? Um it's
done on an as needed basis. It could be twice monthly or it could be once a month. We want to every comment as needed. Okay. Thank you. Is there anyone else in the public like
to comment? Hi Sue Willard 2011 Bay View Strathmir. Um I've come to these meetings over the years and this is the first time I heard everyone say how supportive they are of our little town. It's a brave thing. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much
for all the work that you're doing on behalf of the citizens of Strathier. Really appreciate it. You're welcome. Is there anyone else in the public like to comment? Well, right now, just for clarification, we're taking
comments on the agenda items only. Not. Well, yes. Just on that, you made a comment about the emergency access on Willard. That's also going to be pedestrian access as well. Yes.
Okay. Hearing any more public comment on the agenda? Sir, can you your last name again? I'm sorry. Thank you. At this time, we'll close the public portion and look for a motion on 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. Please call the role. Well, that's a roll. Yep. Mr. Cassaceio. Yes. I'm going to abstain from item number 13. I think Mr. Napan, yes. Mr. Sam Palumbo, yes. Mr. Zach Palumbo, yes. Mayor Corsen, yes. Car.
Okay. The next resolution, item number 31. Before we get to that, I would like to read this statement. Um, as the public is aware, the township administrator's position has been in the interimm status since February of 2024, and Joe Ferrroni has been filling the
position. And we are 2025. I'm sure that's a typo on this. Wow. We all proofed it too. Um, see that's what say you read just like uh people reading off teleprompters
what you put there. Um, and attachment was very grateful for Mr. Veron's service and uh service of Jersey Professional Management or JPM. His leadership has been absolutely
fantastic during this period and uh he's been here while the search was conducted and uh we wish him well in his next endeavor. To fill the township administrator's position, the township committee commenced on a search for the right candidate to take over
this pivotal position. Serving as the chief executive and administrator official for the m municipality. It's a very important role and we took this very seriously. To assist with this venture, the taxi committee engaged the service
of New Jersey Professional Management, a firm that specializ in executive recruitment for municipal leadership positions to seek qualified candidates for the position. Advertisements were placed on the job advertisement board to the New
Jersey Liga municipalities website. the International City of County Management Association's website and the Association of the Pennsylvania Municipal Management. You guys are doing fine. The
following following the 101 interviews with the township committee members, municipal department heads, JPM developed a more detailed procedure and was distributed through JPM's initial digital marketing database which reached
approximately 1500 municipal manage managers throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. In response, 21 resumes from interested candidates were received, three of which were from outside of New Jersey. From the initial list, eight
individuals were granted preliminary screening interviews, all with very impressive credentials and experience. It resulted in the identification of three finalists which were interviewed in person by the
township committee in April. Through the course of this procedure, it became clear that one candidate stood out from the rest. Mr. James Van Sele, who is with us here this evening, along with his wife Lindsay, their 5-year-old
daughter, Liberty, their three-year-old son, James, and 22-month-old daughter Violet, which I'll tell you, Jim's got his hands. Mr. Van's life is an accomplished professional business professional public administrator and holds a master's in
public administration degree from the Texas University of Texas as well as the project management professional credential from the project management institute. Mr. Bane's flight comes to upper township following a very successful career in the United States
Army that began in 2001. While his technical experience is in the field of information technology. He has extensive leadership and management experience and training. Since 2022, Mr. Vans Light has served as
the gar command sergeant major for Dicks, New Jersey. This position is comparable with that of a deputy city manager of a large municipality. In his role, he was responsible for the day-to-day management of the US Army
installation, serving 28 or 48,000 community members across approximately 65 square miles and was responsible for approximately 24 billion dollar infrastructure in the challenging
financial times for our municipality. We are very pleased to note that Mr. Vans like appointment is accompanied by a paid fellowship from the International City County Management Association, which is intended to help retire military
members bring their considerable skill and training to the work in the field of local government. While Mr. While we consider Mr. Van Slice ICMA fellowship and various post retirement benefits he will receive from
the United States Army and thus not required from the township. The financial impact of his appointment 100% aligns with the resource budgeted for this position. So with all that being said, I would like to make a motion we
hire Mr. advancing for the upper township business administrator position. I'll make that motion. I just made the motion. Second that. Will you please call the role? Mr. Cassaceio, yes. Mr. Nappen, yes. Mr. Sam Palumbo, yes. Mr. Zach Palumbo, yes.
Mayor Corson, yes. Motion carried. Thank you. And congratulations, Mr. Blank. And welcome to for members of the media and if we have extra copies after our meeting, we do have copies of his resume available and
Mr. Vanlike will be here to talk to you until he goes home. Okay. Item number 32 here, appointing James Rans Lake as fund commissioner for the township. I make the motion. I'll second. Please
call the role. Mr. Cassaceio, yes. Mr. Nappen, yes. Mr. San Palumbo, yes. Mr. Zack Palumbo, yes. May Coren, yes. Motion carry. Number 33, appointing Jam James Vanlike as municipal housing liazison for the town of Buffer. Make the motion. Second motion. Mr. Yes. Mr.
Nappen. Yes. Mr. San Palumbo. Yes. Mr. Zack Palumbo. Yes. Mayor Forson. Yes. Motion carried. Would somebody like to make a motion on the bills? I will I hereby move that all claims submitted for payment at this meeting
be approved and then incorporated in the full in the minutes of the meeting. Second. I to abstain from bill item number 2500173 and 2500222. Please call the role. Mr. Cassaceio,
yes. Mr. Nappen, yes. Mr. San Palumbo, yes. Mr. Zach Palumbo, yes. Mr. Corson, yes. Motion carried. At this time, we'll open it to the public. Is there anybody in the public would like to comment? Natalie Nice, 759, Route 58. I'd like to
welcome Jimmy to the township. Yeah, I can't pronounce your last name, so Vans silk slike. Hi committee. Hello Barbara Larry Seville. Um three things. Um first of
all congratulations to the new business administrator. Welcome aboard. Um and also congratulations to the committee for making the process of hiring very transparent. I could go on, but I think that's enough. There shouldn't be any other
process. I I really appreciate that. Now, um matters that I want to bring up to the committee and hopefully we can work in support and work together. I've recently like been looking into um the Great Swed Cedar Swamp. There's like 2400 acres of the
Great Cedar Swamp. It's a national um reserve and 7700 acres um Upper Township and Dennis Township are within 7,700 acres in light of the wildfires and the drought conditions. I think it's a concerning um issue about safety. I
tried to find out when the last prescribed burn was and I couldn't find anything. It it I did find in 2007 there was a prescribed burn, but I'm not sure that was an upper township or Dennis. So, I have reached out to the US Fish and Wildlife Service to see if one is
being planned when the last one was done. Um, in light of the residences around and the campgrounds, I'm I'm I'm hoping that I can get an answer, but I'm also hoping that it's a matter of concern for the committee as well and that you would also reach out to see
just for the safety. There's we had um I think last summer there was a burn an underground fire burning back in Seville and that was actually last December and that was on the property I used. Oh, was it? Well, we really enjoyed the smoke in Seville. Thank you for that. It sort of was like,
you know, sort of we all felt like we were camping. But anyway, in light of what just happened up the Parkway, it's closer than it could the potential is there. Yes, it could be. It's there. So, I've reached out. I haven't heard back yet and I think um you know there's
power in numbers and voices. So right now the prescribed burn season is over. I know it's usually in the fall and the spring actually. Yes. In the fall traditionally in the spring because in the fall there's too much greenery still around and the leaves aren't completely dry. So they usually do it in the spring
uh February in the first week of March. But there is I commented on your post. Yes, you did. There and appreciated it. fire there in the behind that property there. We're talking this in 72. And then I did a little research in the
1860s. Good to know. 1870s. The fire there was a fire that burnt from 610 all the way through to Route 9 at the time. It's concerning. And you could actually say stand in Petersburg and see the church people from Seville.
So, well, I've lived here almost 40 years and I've never seen a prescribed burn here. And I know I don't ever remember that. Well, and in last couple years at some of the campgrounds closer to um your old campground, there was a couple fires off season which is the fire service came in and controlled. It
just I just think in light of what's happening in the world right now and the fact that the underbrush hasn't been cleared out and it's there's there's there's 7700 acres right by by upper township in Dennisville. I mean well they won't burn the whole 77. No, I know but I'll take a little bit start. What
they do is they build a buffer or a fire break like they'll go along the power line and they'll burn 50 yards into the woods or 75 yards into the woods the length of power line so there provides a fire break. That'd be wonderful just to something that a barrier to protect the
residents houses etc. So, I appreciate it and I hope mayor that you would pick up uh the torch, no pun intended, and see if you can reach out to uh the US fire fish and wildlife service and see if they can give us some answers. I am friendly with our local
fire warden and I can between Victor in charge of fire and rescue. Okay. And myself, we will reach out. Wonderful. Appreciate that. The next question I have is the bike path. Just wondering I know in an earlier meeting this year there was a you were going to work with
the community and um you know reach out and do meet or whatever. I'm just wondering if there are any updates or at this point there are absolutely no updates with the change of administration we had. It kind of got put on the back burner and that's going to be one of the first things we do. We
want to and obviously the county has the bike path planned throughout the whole connecting Kate May to the city bike path to Philadelphia bike. I know there's a grant available right now and I think I sent you a grant to Mr. Veron.
Um there is there is many grants available. Okay. This one I think I think they extended the deadline. It's till May 22nd. We are not going to make that deadline. Okay. Um just but I want to let you if there are grants available you know just be aware there was uh we
do want to continue that we do want to but there is a plan none of my colleagues have seen the plan I've been privy to it what we would like to do is have the county planning department who's drawn the plan come up and present it to the township committee just like
tonight the public aware of it there was a couple problematic spots that were Right. I remember. Yeah. We There's a solution to some of them though. And we would like to form a committee. Not that I want to committeeize things because
sometimes committees the death sentence for some stuff, but get some of the bikers and some of the people with concerns. We can this can be worked out, right? That's the that's the whole point of community is working together. So appreciate it. Just
was wondering if it's still, you know, on the radar screen. I think as of tonight it moved from the back burner to the front burner because I believe Jimmy's taking notes. That's terrific. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you so much. Thanks.
Is there anyone else from the public? Yes, sure. Good evening. My name is Greg Hefron. I was here uh at the last township meeting and uh I brought up the fact that uh uh I live at the community in Osprey Cove
in Seville and we are going through a 30% uh increase in our uh uh land lease and I asked the committee last meeting if there was something that that uh possibly can be done uh by by the
township some sort of a cap or somehow to mitigate uh the increase. And I I I was just wondering if you had any updates that you could pass along to us. Want me your response? Yes. So, I've talked to a couple I know Mr. Evan, I
did email you directly as well. Um I I talked to a few of the committee members about the potential for introducing and adopting a rent control ordinance. Um what the positives, what the negatives to that would be. Um so, committee members, I think, can can agree. I've talked to them about that. At this
point, I don't think a determination's been made. Um, but I have gone over with them what benefits and then what negatives would come with that. And I I'd also highlight I was provided with information. The last the last administration, not the current administration sitting in front of you, but this was has been considered
multiple times in the past by the township and by several surrounding Mainland municipalities. Uh, Middle Township's got one on the books. I spoke to the solicitor in Lower Township. They have uh declined to adopt such an ordinance. Uh currently they've been requested by some of their residents to
do the same thing that that many of of the Osprey co-resident residents are. Um but back in 2023 there was a statement made uh as to upper township's unwillingness to do so at the time. Uh so that was provided to to the governing body as well. So I think all this is I don't I don't think anything is dead at
this point but I don't think anything's been approved either obviously. So so still working on it but we have gone over it. It's definitely an information gathering session, right? And if we were to do an in ordinance, it's going to take it fasttrack probably 120 days cuz
So, and the other thing that we looked into, at least that I looked into was the state legislation that's pending. I know there was discussion as to that at the last meeting we were at, there's competing bills in the Senate and the Assembly. And really, it if I'm understanding the bills correctly, it's really about what is the cap that we're willing to put on it, right? from the
legislaturator standpoint is can we agree on a number? Um given where that is and how close they are, wouldn't surprise me if something happens there, possibly even before it happens here. So that we have no control over that, but but that's something you may see that could provide some relief as well. We can't guarantee it obviously, but it
looks pretty close. If state legislature imposed a cap, would the the county and township abide by that? We would have to. Yes, absolutely. Unfortunately, John, if I'm mistaken, since that letter was already sent, he that red priest would be grandfathered in. Well, it's
all going to depend on what the final bill looks like that gets approved in the legislature. Uh there's that possibility, but things could change. So, we really don't know. And Mr. Mcallin and Mr. Simson were at your meeting last week, right? This week,
today our state assembly man. Okay. Thank you for your time. Thanks. Is there anyone else from the public like to comment? Hearing no more public comment, we'll entertain a motion to go into close session. I hereby move that a resolution
be incorporated into the minutes authorizing the township committee to enter into an executive session for the public now we're early too for the following matters. First one to the open public meetings act matters. One, personnel. Two, contract negotiation grant consultant. Three, contract negotiation actuarial services. Four,
contract negotiation medical director service. Five, contract negotiation municipal court service. Six, contract negotiation EMS service. Seven, litigation to Mars via the upper town of Edal. I also include in my motion the estimated time and circumstances under which the discussion conducted in close session can be disclosed to the public
as follows. It is anticipated that the matters discussed in close session may be disclosed to the public upon the determination of the township committee. That the public interest will no longer be served by such confidentiality. With respect to employment and personnel matters, such discussions will be made public if and when formal action is
taken or when the individuals involved consent that it can be made public. With respect to contract negotiations, such matters will be made public when negotiations have ceased and there is no longer a reason for confidentiality. With respect to litigation matters, such discussions will be made public when litigation is complete and the
applicable appeal period has expired. Second. Before we call the role, I just want to reiterate Mr. Vans like will be available for anybody would like to talk to him, meet him, get take the opportunity to meet him. And we do have copies for the media. If anybody would
like his resume, if we run out of copies and you're not the media, they will be available more. You can put in an open request will get them for you. Please call to roll. Mr. Cassaceio, yes. Mr. Nappen, yes. Mr. Sam Palumbo, yes. Mr. Zach Palumbo, yes. Mayor Corson,
yes. Motion carries. We're going to take a blank.