Leaving calling to order the February 12th Vener city commission meeting. Um if I can have everyone rise for flag salute, please. >> Pledge allegiance 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. >> Thank you. >> Roll call. Lisa. >> Commissioner Langrath
>> here. >> Commissioner Mento >> here. >> Mayor Kel >> here. Lisa, can you please read the open public meeting announcement? >> Pursuant to the open public meetings act, adequate notice of this meeting has been provided. The agenda for this meeting is posted in city hall and on
the city's website. Thank you. Lisa, could you please read the live streaming announcement? >> The city of Vander offers live streaming and the option of public comment via remote access as a convenience to the public. In the event remote access is unavailable for any reason beyond the
city's control, the city will not pause or stop the live meeting. The city reserves the right to discontinue remote access at the discretion of the city for any future meetings. >> Thank you. This evening, we have no presentations. We have no department
head reports and we have no capital uh discussion. Uh the following items are scheduled for action um at the uh the two at today's commission meeting 212. Um we will have the minutes
approval uh regular minutes. We were all present for all of these so we don't need uh everyone can vote. It's uh November 3rd, 2025, December 18th 20 uh and December 18th regular and executive sessions. So, uh then we'll
have the uh new ordinance introduction. Uh we have none and we have three adoptions uh ordinance adoptions. The first one is uh 2026002.
This is uh adopting the pension plan that we've discussed at our last meeting um which will be um titled the city of Ventner pension plan for lifeguards in accordance with NJSA
43-23. Any comments on that? >> Yes, mayor. Just just to be clear, this is a readoption of an ordinance that was first adopted back in 1987. Uh and the state the office of the state comproller did an audit of all of the
municipalities lifeguard pensions those that have them made some recommendations for changes and the this ordinance uh incorporates those changes that the office of the controller wanted us to make. >> Right. Thank you. >> The pension funds a requirement correct
>> for for us as a yes. It's a statutory requirement. It's a law that was adopted almost a hundred years ago, requiring uh cities of the first class or fourth class, I'm sorry, which is basically defined as cities along the eastern seabboard uh to have a lifeguard
pension. So towns that are burrows, for example, >> don't have the best lifeguards in the country. This is a state requirement. So when somebody says to me, >> why are you doing a pension? Because we have to. >> Correct. and you've had it since 1987
>> statutory, right? Uh the next is one that we've already um we've already had public comment on. This is the adoption for 003 establishing a range of salaries with officers and employees in the city of Vner repealing all other ordinances
or parts of their their hereto for adopted um which are inconsistent with. So this is just the ranges that will go on the record. Yep. Um right. >> Yep. >> Next is uh 2026 04.
Uh this is the um authorizing um lifeguard salary and wages. So this is their salary scale according to the um uh our our our our roles there. Correct.
>> Yes. We we do it uh separate for them because they're a large group. You'll see that the the first one that covers the general employees and non-union people. Uh the the uh beach patrol does not have uh collective bargaining, right?
>> So we set their salaries by by ordinance. It has a a scale a step system that was incorporated. I don't know when, but this continues uh to follow along that uh method of ass of establishing salaries and expectations
for future years. So this is intended I think to last for three years. So for 26, 27 and 28. >> Okay. >> Just just to just a quick comment. Um in the past I have not voted on lifeguard um matters,
>> but uh Evan has not been a lifeguard now for five years and who knows what his plans are when he gets out of the Navy in another year. So um I think I'm okay. Cat, am I okay to vote on these? My son was a lifeguard before he went in the Navy.
ask him about the >> and he's not he's no longer a lifeguard and he it's >> he'll be free to apply when he comes back >> right >> he could be a lifeguard. How long does this go for? I'm at 28. >> Three years. >> Oh, maybe you shouldn't. >> All right. You know what? I'll abstain. >> Okay.
>> I'll abstain from both of these then. >> Can I come back and apply? >> He could. Yeah. Like a year from now. This is a three year >> because his his plan would not allow that. But his plan wants to be a fireman is what he wants to do. So then he can't be on our beach patrol.
>> Lance Lance, as you say, can change. >> Exactly. So I'm I'm going to recuse myself from those two items. >> You can I don't I don't think it presents a a conflict though, Lance, at the present time. For example, >> I'm voting on his salary and potential pension. So I'm uncomfortable. >> No, but you voted on the fire department
as well. What if he decides he wants to be a firefighter? >> But he's not a fireman now. He he has been a lifeguard for eight or nine years and his Navy service counts towards that pension. So >> it doesn't it doesn't his H his Navy
service will not count towards this pension. >> That's been in previous agreements. So that's >> his pension as a lifeguard. >> Correct. His his service time in the military does not translate into time
served in the for purpose. You know what it does count as? Maybe not to the pension, but it's time and to his years on the beach to his salary. >> Yeah, I think for seniority. >> That's what it is. I apologize. >> And where he would be placed on the salary scale. That's true. >> That is true. That's where I heard it.
I'm sorry. >> Whatever you're comfortable with. I >> Yeah, I'm going to recuse >> um just to um just to because we're in the workshop and I'm one thing adjacent. I have been discussing with uh Chief uh Funk about potentially adding a beach on
the south side of the pier as an additional surfing beach uh after talking to some people. It's already a nonswimming beach and it's um potentially could be utilized for surfers on the south side as well, >> like right adjacent to the pier
>> on this the the well right now this the the main surfing beach is on the north side of the pier. Right. Right. on the Atlantic City side. So, some surfers have been asking about adding and so this is the as part of as part of a workshop. I thought I'd bring it up. It
would incl It would include have potentially having a guard stationed at the pier, an additional stand um to have surfing on both sides of the pier. >> Would you move that? >> That's the request. >> That swimming beach further away.
>> Well, no, there's no swimming beach. I'm talking just adjacent to the >> I know exactly what you're talking about. Yeah. >> It's the beach we all go to, but I'm concerned that that >> that surfers surf don't always stop where they're supposed to, >> right?
>> And if you got a a a drift down beach, surfers are going to be riding that wave right into that first beach there, which is Sacramento, right? >> Uh Portland >> Sack, >> is it Sacramento? >> Which is right there. So, I would I I'm
fine with it. I think the the surfers will love it, but I think I would move the sack beach down a half a block. >> Right. I I agree. I agree. That's a good It's a good comment. I'll bring that. >> That's all. Just because look, these guys are I'm on a great wave, man. I don't care who's in my way. I'm coming in. Right.
>> So, that's all. >> Right. Right. Understood. I'll bring it up. >> Yep. >> Um so, moving forward, we have resolutions and contracts. Uh um this is a consent agenda. So these will be
approved by consent. Um first resolution is 056. Um this is accepting the retirement of Brad Cook effective April 1st. Um
so this is a um uh um we'll have some normal progression of um uh of of lattering up the um u the ranks as um as Brad leaves. So we're preparing
for that. Um uh next would be 057. Uh, unless you have any comments on >> Thank him. Thank him for being a great fireman. Did a good job for us. >> I think we should include how long he's been.
>> Yeah, I I I think it's in the notes. I saw that somewhere. >> Yeah. >> See it in the resolution. Is it there? >> Well, >> July 1, 2004. >> I'll bring some more >> I'll bring some color more more detail into that. We didn't have a chance to talk about that too much with uh the
fire department. It's been a busy It's been a busy week with the fire department >> um with uh with frozen pipes and frozen equipment. So, I'll get into that in my comments a little bit. >> Yeah. >> But I will um pass on some more information about Brad Cook. His whole
family is a a great uh asset to the city. Um 057. Um, this has to do with the uh shared uh uh re-upping their our shared service agreement with the ACUA
uh for solid waste, bulk waste, recycling, and yard waste collection services uh extending their contract term beginning January 1st through December 31st. Um any comments or uh color to add to this? It's a long-term
relationship. I have no >> Yeah, I mean I I did notice in some of these things that they provide us when they when they give us their their monthly and even annual reports, our recycling numbers have consistently gone up. And what we
should be telling people in our newsletter, maybe that's a good idea to talk to Sarah about, is start making people aware that whatever they put in recycling, we don't get charged for, >> right, >> as part of these tipping fees. So, anything that is honestly recyclable, we don't want to put things in there that
aren't recyclable, but the more we put in that is recyclable and keep it out of our our trash stream, it lessens our tipping fees. So, that's just a >> and that's remarkable for Ventner because overall recycling is going down. So, that you know, uh the cities, the
people ought to pat themselves on the back. >> Yep. I think it has a lot to do with those big those big receptacles. >> Absolutely. Absolutely. Right. Um so moving forward to 058.
Um this is uh uh one of our road closure um indemnification for the county for the use of at of uh uh Veterary Avenue for the block party, something we do every year. Um and the next one 059 is
the same thing for the holiday parade. So, these are just preparing us for those two special events. Any comments on that? >> No, there's a a lot of these on here tonight and I asked Donna to be here in case we have any questions although because you have all the events here that need to have a resolution,
>> road closures, that's that that sort of thing, a resolution. So, I'll just uh go go forward with them if there's any questions. Um, so we have the road closure for the block party on Ventner Avenue as 058. We have 059 which is road closure for the holiday parade also
Ventner Avenue. These are county roads. 060 this is for Maamanja Pasta dinner party >> also called dinner with Maria. >> Um and that is uh 060.
Um and then we have uh closing of the boat ramp and certain road closures around Ski Beach. This is for um this is for uh cancer uh bike ride every every year. So this is this year it's falling on June 5th
>> uh and June 8th from June 5th to June 8th. So it's a great event. Um then we have uh 062 which is um parking on uh let's see here state
authorizing no parking from on Atlantic Avenue uh from Portland to Fredericksburg along the beach blocks of New Haven to Newport Avenue. And this is for the Kenny Whan Memorial Run. Feeling better. Uh I might do that this year. Uh
062 063 um this is to uh this is uh possibly Lance you may have this is for signalization so this is a submission of a grant application uh for with the New Jersey de department of transportation correct do you have
any comment on this >> yes this is for the signalization change out on Atlantic Avenue u we're we've been trying to get funding for this we have we've set aside some funds But look, if they're going to give us some from free dollars, we're going to try and get some more dollars that we don't
that don't come out of our pocket. So, >> this would not change the signals in any way or the the intersections. What it does is it changes out the the guts, the computerization in the boxes and then synchronizes those lights the same as
Ventner Avenue. And we would tie it to the same system that the county has that that regulates those lights on Ventner Avenue. Okay. Looking forward to >> had it designed. Yeah, we've had it designed for a few years. It's just we're waiting to get some some dollars to put it in.
>> Great. >> Lance, are we looking uh to do all of Atlantic Avenue? >> Yes. >> Okay, >> great. That'll be a huge quality of life factor. Um so that is 063.
064 is um authorizing a work change order for the reconstruction of the basketball court. I see that's a a um a decrease, Lance. >> Yes, it is. So, our our look, our our engineers that we hire through the pool and then our city engineers managing it
have been doing a good job at at value engineering these projects and making sure they're not wasting money on them. We saved almost $24,000 on this contract. It was down from to $26,325, which is, like I said, almost $24,000
less than the bid price. So, >> wow. That's I mean every little bit helps, you know. So, and the basketball court came out great. >> Great. Glad to hear and glad always glad to see it a decrease.
Okay. Uh next is 065. This is a resolution establishing salaries for employees for the year of 2026. Um, we have one correction. Um, on page two, I guess it is for city
administrator Tom Cherone. That should read 124200. It's already unanimous. >> Okay. >> And I'm not trying to be like noble about this, >> right? >> I'm adequately compensated and I really and truly do not want it. I'm just going
to It's just going to go to the federal government anyway, so keep it. I rarely disagree with you, Tom. >> But we felt you should have the same, >> but neither are Christmas gifts or birthdays or there's a lot of >> those
humbug. >> I'm gonna All right. I'm gonna >> Yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna continue that and uh disregard what Tom said. 124200. >> Okay. >> Um next would be um
066. That is uh refunding a duplicate permit payment to John Durnney. I believe this is a an amount that was not utilized for or a duplicate permit payment. So >> refund there. Um 067
is another road closure. This is during certain special events. This is all of the concerts and um and ski beach events. Correct. >> 067. >> Sorry. >> 067 is state of this is authorizing Oh,
this is open container. So this is um um >> but it's also road closures. It's all three. You had it. That's right. >> Road closures, no parking, and suspension of open container during certain special events. >> Got it. Uh 068,
this is um authorizing no parking and street closures during the holiday parade. And uh 069, this is authorizing no parking and road closures during the block party. and 070.
This is um approving the provisional appointment of Siri Applebomb to assistant controller. I believe this is our second um >> yes >> right it's already >> yes we've had some changes first of all in the finance office we had a resignation and then as we had noted I
think the prior meeting Siri successfully completed the classes for the certified municipal finance officer and then she passed the exam so she is now um very importantly certified as a finance officer and we're moving her into the vacancy position right
>> as uh the title as you mentioned very welld deserved >> controller. Mayor, if I if I may just back you up for just a moment because if anybody wasn't paying close attention, uh it would seem as though there was some redundancy here with these closures
and >> Yeah, I agree. >> The first two were actually authorizing us to indemnify the county because they're unions. The these resolutions are authorizing the road closures and the suspension of the open uh beverage regulations and that sort of stuff. So
that's the difference between the first ones you mentioned and these. >> Thank you. Right. That was that that did require some clarification. So these are internal. The others were external if you will. Um 071. This is authorizing the closing of
the boat ramp and authorizing no parking at Ski Beach on April 25th and October 3rd for the annual community shred event and textile recycling program.
And similarly um there is uh 072 which is also authorizing the closing of the boat ramp and no parking at ski beach and surrounding streets on September 4th and 6th for the Ventner city food truck festival which is new.
>> Yeah, it's through the 6th. >> Through the 6th. Yes. And the goodbye to summer concert. >> So this would be this is the second year. Okay. Goodbye to summer concert. So it's a Labor Day weekend. Um we are
coupling that with the food truck festival this year. >> Oh, I see. >> Yes. >> So it's one event. >> It Yes. It's uh instead of instead of just Saturday night, however, it's Friday through Sunday. The food trucks come in um early afternoon, I believe,
on Friday. And um they do this in Brigantine. And uh the the provider was saying usually Friday night is people come in for takeouts. And then Saturday we have our concert. We'll have a band. We're partnering with the provider um to
do the food trucks and they'll be there all day. And then Sunday we'll also have he'll supply a band and um and you know you still have the food trucks. And then what time does it get done on Sunday? I think it's early, right, Donna? Six o'clock. Yeah. >> Six o'clock.
>> Yep. Yeah. All right. >> So, it looks like a good event. We have a good um rapport going with uh the provider and I I think it's going to be a good partnership so far. It seems that way. Anyway, >> I've known Blake and Mike Morgan for how
old's Kelsey? 30 years. Um good folks. It's Mad Dog Morgan and the food truck. That's what he started. Um they've been at our events and they they've been doing this pretty successfully over in Brig for a few years now. So, good good to have try something new. I like it. >> Yep. >> Yep.
>> Great. Glad to hear it. Um so, uh that'll that's a it's a big lineup. Always is a summer great a great summer lineup. Uh 0. Next is 073. This is um awarding consulting contracting for
planning services related to the re-examination of the master plan. Lance, do you want to pick this up? >> Yeah, sure. So, um, we're due to finish our master plan or update our master plan, uh, every 10 years, and it was done last in 2017. So, or 20 end of 2026
into 17. So, we'll have to do that this year. Uh, Jim Rutella has done the last couple for the city. Does a fine job. Um, he knows our city. Um, and we'll be, you know, preparing this for for us with the planning board. it is a more of a
planning board document that they will then present to us for our acceptance as the as the the um governing body. So, it'll be a process. Uh there'll be public meetings both at the planning board and then they'll if there's if there's significant enough changes, Jim
may host a uh kind of a a chet like a public meeting over at the school or something if if we need to. If not, the meeting will just be held at city hall um for people to come comment on it and then once we get a draft going, we'll certainly share that around and and and
move on. So, we'll have it adopted by the end of 26 >> just since we're in the workshop talking about it. I would I would support having at least one sharet public comment at at a larger venue that we can because not not so much that there may be a lot of changes, but there's been a lot of
changes in the city in general. Yeah. just to have that kind of feedback and engagement I think is positive. >> Probably a good spot might be uh the um public events building because you could put easels up and and have people walk around in stations. I've done these
before. So >> what you try and do is have like stations for people to comment on certain things and you give them little you give them a a big pen and and a big easel board to comment on about what they're proposing for a certain area. So, >> right,
>> it's a neat little way to get ideas and and get feedback from from what's being talked about. So, >> yeah, visited cities that do that and they have like they'll put a they'll put a a display up in city hall and they'll allow or any highly trafficked area and allow people to make comments that makes
it easier for them because I think I think you know people don't always know where to comment or how to reach out for these kinds of things. So, >> agreed. Agreed. >> All right. Any other comments on that? Yeah, I um I just want to go back to um I'm not really going back to 68, but um
reading the resolution on the holiday parade, believe it or not, the planning for that has started. And um the committee and the police, I guess, too, are going to need to know whether we're going to have Troy Avenue um accessible
to us in December. >> You'd have to ask the developer. I don't know when they're going to start. >> Okay. >> I don't know. They last I heard it was going to start demo in September. >> Yeah. So I mean they they can't block the street. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. The street itself >> street will be available.
>> Yeah. Yeah. >> Likely not going to be all of it. It's not going to be constructed at one time. So they'll if there's any staging, they'll be using their own property for that, I would imagine. But it's worth it's worth reaching out to them. I >> I can reach out to the developer if we want. >> Okay. Thank you.
>> Yep. >> All right. All right. I'm looking forward to the master plan um uh conversation. It's always to me it's it's always something that I think is our opportunity to to put our our you know our thoughts
together and organize them for the future. Um next we'll have uh bills and payroll. Uh we have one discussion item, the revocable license at 22 North Martinddale Avenue. Uh, do you want to do that now or during the
>> Yeah, I'll just go through it now real quick. So, it it's basically and Ed has reviewed it and provided information on on that it doesn't affect anything. It was a planning board application for a sec third floor addition, I believe. Um, they were not providing any new parking.
Um, there was a a way to remove part of the building and actually stack two spaces in the in the driveway and it was a few feet short of being 18 ft deep for a parking space. So, they needed a few I think it was 3 feet
>> and it's still aligned with the the back side of the sidewalk. So, the card will not stick over the sidewalk, but it it will be in our right of way. So, that's all they needed. They have to apply to us for that. um this is that process and what'll happen is we'll be back at at
our next meeting in in um in February to approve this. So I have no issues with it. I think it's a we we asked for it at the planning board. So >> Right. >> Yeah. As you mentioned, I do remember and I do remember also that there was it's consistent with the rest of the homes on the block that kind of uh
>> uh the kind of relief that this gives them. >> So >> yep, I'm I'm okay with it. Um, and I don't think we need to have any more discussion. Any other questions? >> Ask um our solicitor prepare a resolution for the next meeting and we'll put it on for you guys to vote on.
>> Great. >> Please prepare that. Thank you. >> All right. Um, next item 15 is the public portion. At this time, we welcome anyone in uh the
chambers or on the Zoom platform to comment on anything uh in the live streaming platform to uh comment on anything that we've discussed so far in the workshop. If you have any um any comments on any of the specific items
that we've talked about so far, uh we ask you to step up to the microphone or raise your hand on the live stream platform and um state your name, address, and keep your comments to three minutes if possible. So, anything on
we've discussed so far in the agenda. Later on, there'll be a open forum for any comments. Seeing nobody rush the microphone in the chambers. Is there anyone in the uh live stream?
>> Is there anybody on Zoom who wishes to comment or speak on any of the items that have been spoken about so far? Please raise your hand or within the chat feature and you will be recognized. Okay. No. All right. Thank you. Hearing none.
Um uh I have a motion to I don't think I open public portion. Um so no. So uh uh um so I guess I should vote on opening public portion for for that comment. Did I
>> It It's a workshop. So >> it's just a workshop. So >> it's not necessary. >> I don't think so. Right. We're fine. >> The I didn't open the >> do a formal vote. formal vote to open the public portion. >> Yeah. >> All right.
>> And that's why we do it. Okay. So, I'll close the workshop meeting. Uh uh so at this point, I will um ask for a vote to close the entire workshop portion and call to order the regular meeting. I'll
make that motion. >> Second. >> Second. >> Commissioner Langra. >> Yes. >> Commissioner Mento. >> Yes. >> Mayor Creable. >> Yes. Uh may I have a a motion to approve
minutes November 13th, 18th, uh regular and 18th executive. >> I'll make a motion to approve the minutes. >> Thank you. A second. >> Second. >> Roll call. Lisa. Commissioner Langra, >> yes. >> Commissioner Mento, >> yes.
>> Mayor Creel, >> yes. We have no ordinance introductions. We have one uh I have a motion uh to open public hearing for ordinance 00 uh 2026-002
amending pension for lifeguards. >> I'll make that motion. >> Second. >> Roll call. Lisa. >> Commissioner Langra. >> Yes. >> Commissioner Mento. >> Yes. Mayor Creable. >> Yes. >> Any comments for public uh
any comments from the public here? Seeing none in the chambers and any comments from the public on the live stream platform. Anybody in Zoom wish to make any comments?
>> I have a motion to close public hearing on ordinance 002. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Roll call. Lisa. >> Commissioner Langra. >> Yes. >> Commissioner Mento. >> Yes. >> Mayor Creable. >> Yes. A motion to adopt ordinance 2026-002
as described. >> I'll make a motion to adopt ordinance 2026-002. >> Second. >> Have a roll call. So, >> Commissioner Langra, >> yes. >> Commissioner Mento, >> yes. >> Mayor Creable, >> yes.
Uh, can I have motion to open for public hearing uh ordinance 2026-003, salaries compensation ranges for officers and employees as described? >> I'll make that motion.
>> Second. >> Commissioner Langra, >> yes. >> Commissioner Mento, >> yes. Mayor Creable. >> Yes. At this time, anybody have any comments for um ordinance 003?
Seeing none in the chambers, any on the streaming platform. >> Anybody on Zoom wish to comment on ordinance 003? >> No. >> Hearing none. May I have a motion to close public hearing on ordinance 003? So moved. >> Second.
>> Commissioner Langra. >> Yes. >> Commissioner Mento. >> Yes. >> Mayor Creable. >> Yes. >> I have a motion to adopt ordinance 2026-00003 establishing 2026 salaries and compensations as described. >> I'll make a motion to adopt ordinance
2026-003. >> Thank you. >> Second. >> Roll call. Lisa. >> Commissioner Langri. >> Yes. >> Commissioner Mento. >> Yes. >> Mayor Creable. >> Yes. Can I have a motion to open for public hearing ordinance 00 220 2026-00004.
This is uh authorizing salaries and wages for vendor city lifeguards as described earlier. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Commissioner Langraph. >> Yes. >> Commissioner Mento. >> Yes. >> Mayor Creable. >> Yes.
I have a motion to adopt ordinance 2026. >> Still public. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Public hearing. Correct. >> Anybody wants to comment on 004? >> Anybody wants to comment on ordinance 004? >> No.
>> Nope. >> Hearing none. Can I have a motion to close public comment on 2026-004? >> So moved. Second. Commissioner Langria. >> Yes. >> Commissioner Mento. >> Yes. >> Mayor Creable.
>> Yes. Thank you. >> Uh I have a motion to adopt ordinance 2026-004 uh salaries and wages for lifeguards as described. >> Make a motion to adopt ordinance 2026-004. >> Second. >> Thank you.
>> Commissioner Langrath. >> Yes. >> Commissioner Mento. >> Yes. Mayor Creel. >> Yes. >> You can see I changed my mind on abstaining from them. >> I Yeah, I just noticed that. >> Um,
so uh item 24 is motion to adopt resolutions by consent. This is resolutions 2026-056 through 2026-073 with one correction on >> 65. 65
by motion to adopt resolutions by consent as described with one correction. >> I'll make that motion as corrected. >> Second. >> Commissioner Langra. >> Yes. >> Commissioner Mento. >> Yes. >> Mayor Creel.
>> Yes. Right. Um we have uh approval of bills and payrolls. So, we have uh payroll from January 18, 2026 through January 31st, 2026 in the amount of 634,
$15.81. And we have bills in the amount of 1,80,293.79. >> Great. Okay. Thank you. May I have a motion to approve bills and payroll, please? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Roll call. Lisa. >> Commissioner Langra.
>> Yes. Commissioner Mento, >> yes. >> Mayor Creel, >> yes. We have no announcements or safety reports as far as I'm concerned, but we do have commissioners that have commissioner reports. Commissioner Mento, you want to go first? >> Sure. Um, it's pretty much business as
usual and finance and tax offices. Um we we do have finances working on the budget and um that should be coming around in the next month or two um based on when we're required to introduce and adopt. Um
our special events uh coordinator Donna is here tonight and she's been working on the uh events coming up um especially during the season, the summer season. As we talked about earlier, we are adding a new event on the same weekend as a
current concert to tax the neighborhood too much with a with a new date. Uh this is at Ski Beach. It's a food truck festival, Labor Day weekend, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Um we're also having a Philly's tailgate event on May 31st.
And um is this in conjunction with the Vetner social or is that a Oh, VBA. Okay. Um, so that's May 31st. Can And people can still get tickets, Donna, or is it sold out?
>> May 31st. >> Oh, that's the tailgate. I'm sorry. Yes. Okay. Um, I was wondering why this ski beach because it's the tailgate. It's not the uh bus trip. Correct. Okay. Um, we have sponsorships and partnerships
available for our concerts and other events and uh that was pretty successful last year and you can contact Donna if you want more information about that and how to get your your name out there and your business out there. And um other
than that, we're finalizing plans for um many of these events. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, I'm going to do um a couple of quick things before I kick it over to you, Lance. >> Sure. >> Um, and then I'll maybe follow up. Uh,
just want to give, uh, some brief stats on the fire department and, uh, the police department. The police department is, you know, is is, uh, uh, typically busy. Um, just in the month we had 1,199
entries. um the largest of which would be um parking summones. That's before we suspended any real parking enforcement during the snow and um ice event that we had. And that's what I would just want
to mention briefly. The fire department not only has uh in um uh their normal calls, which tend to be um uh in the two to 300 calls per month, uh an additional
28 to 30 calls per day since the storm event happened. This is some of the largest um uh call volume that we've had uh in in a long time. the and the event itself in 50 years. Um, so not only did
we have um and these are in at one particular day the the the crews uh left for their first calls at 7 a.m. and did not return to the um firehouse until um until just after dinner. So they were constantly out all day going from one
call to the next. They had to re had to uh had to group the calls for frozen pipes. That's what this is for, by street so that they could um not to save time by not going around the city. Uh if
you think about it, 30 calls in one day. They have to stay there sometimes for an hour at a time um to make sure that it's there's shut offs. Uh there's a that some uh particular development had um close to 11 units uh where water had to
be removed. Um and in the process uh we had um both our uh our our pump truck and our Quint have um during while they're waiting um while they're working um the drain lines froze and um and have
to be repaired. So the because of the windchill. So um and that was every city not just ours. Uh the the manufacturers um literally had to change the same part on Margate Brigantine um for for all the
use and the the extreme windchill that uh that that our our um our firefighters were up against. Um so it's been a busy I know public works as well. I'll kick that over to you Lance with that. >> Okay. And I'll start with with a similar report from DPW
um storm activity summary. Rick Santor was was gracious enough to give me a breakdown of that. From 1326 through 21126. So as of yesterday we used road salt. 84 tons of that were utilized. Uh
luckily we were able to get a second delivery kind of right before the second um wave of that that storm hit. So we're pretty good with that. Uh just so folks understand, road salt only goes down on basically the the main roadways, our
main corridors, the emergency access roads, Vetner, Atlantic, Winchester, Monmouth, Dorset, and Wellington. Um that's all we have the ability to store in in public works. Um we learned a lot from this storm. I I'll get to that at the end. We learned a lot of what we can
and can't do. Um certainly we always wish to do better and hope to do better. Our guys did what they could with the tools and equipment that we have and with the manpower we have um pre-storm and actually before the the last little
um storm that didn't come. Thankfully last Sunday we didn't get the rain the snow we're supposed to get. We were pretty happy about that. We used 1500 gallons of brine and those are applied mainly to the main corridors. Again we don't do the side streets with that. Uh
we also do Margate and Longport uh because that's part of the county system, the county grant that we obtained to uh to get that vehicle and that equipment. So we do those streets as well. Um sidewalk ice melt, 6,000 lbs was used uh on sidewalk ice melt. That's
public buildings uh around the firehouses, driveway ramps, all of that. Um now we get into what was broken. um 35 water meters broken and replaced with new um overtime hours from 124 to 211,
515 hours. These guys are working just like the fire department, Tim, you know, they're they're working a bunch of hours without a lot of rest. These guys are exhausted. They still are. Um because we're still getting water mane and waterline breaks. Um we had call man
offhour emergency responses 47 during that ter time period. Um we had resident assists. This is where we had 67 resident assists where we have a car um that is stuck. That person either needs to get out for emergency reasons,
dialysis, patient, medically compromised, home health care worker, can't access access property, you know, things of that nature. Um, we had 67 of those where we actually sent out guys with either a loader, a Bobcat, or whatever we had to get out and try and
get these folks out where they needed to get uh for emergency purposes. Um, we had some uh equipment damaged. I don't want to get into that list, but uh suffice to say some of our our plows took some damage when the when the ice actually froze the snow up after the
rain. So, that was problematic. Um, had some facility issues. library roof leaked with the cold temperatures. The down spouts all froze up. Water ponded on the roof and couldn't get out. So, we had some issues there. Uh we're working on we have that patched now and
um we've we've got that thawed. Hopefully, the temperatures stay in in more moderate temps. Um we had DPW. We had we had the water down at DPW for 96 hours. So, we had no restroom facilities in the main building. We did have
restroom facilities for the guys and and folks over there in the in the garage building. Um they did storm storm drain cleanouts. Um we moved 88 dump trucks full of snow over to either Ski Beach or
um Titus Field or the old driving range. Just moving material and snow out of the way. Um couple injuries, slip and falls. Nobody too badly hurt. They didn't miss any hours, so that's good. Um, so that's kind of it. I I just want to say I know there's a lot of folks out there that
were complaining um about the side streets and how icy they were. This storm was extremely irregular for our area. We got six, seven inches of snow midafter afternoon on I think it was Sunday that turned to rain and then the temperatures
just plummeted. It froze everything solid. We are just not equipped for a storm like that with our small city. Um, our big trucks can't get down the side streets to plow them clean u due to the cars. You know, we've had, you know, a
lot of residents reached out and and you know, you plowed me in. Well, there's no place to put the snow, folks. We just don't have an option for that. There's just no way to to push the snow anywhere else. We try and push it straight down the street and get it out to the end and then move it from the intersections. Um,
again, we don't salt the side streets. Even if we did salt these side streets, once the temperature is I believe it's 22 or 20 20° is below that temperature, road salt doesn't work. It's made to work above 22 or 25°. So, putting down
that road salt would have been just dumping money into the bay. So until it started to thaw and then we did hit the intersections again. Uh one of the things we're looking at for next year is possibly a salt silo somewhere else on the island that maybe we can do a shared
services with Margate. They had the same issues. Um Atlantic City has a very large salt silo. If you've seen it out on the Blackhorse Pike, um they can hold, I believe, 150 to 200 tons in there. We can hold 50. So, we're trying
to look at that so we can do some more work around the city uh with that product. Um and and hopefully we don't get that cold snap again. That's just it's just brutal. Um that's kind of all I have on the storm. I want to thank the guys that been out there and are still out there. you know, these waterline
breaks, they're even if they're behind the curb, our guys are out there shutting off the water with the fire department. Um, and and trying to save property and not more damage to these residential properties throughout the city. Um, >> yeah, one of the things, just to
interrupt real briefly, one of the things that the the fire department started doing was to use Google Maps to find the street shut offs when they needed to because obviously they're covered with snow and ice. So they're using Google Maps to look at summertime images to find where those shut offs are. >> Yeah.
>> Chip out the ice. So it's been a >> it's been a bit of a it's it's nothing really like this if you see things like the ice on the pilings at the pier and and the amount of and just the news in general. This was not a normal event. So
appreciate what your department did as well. >> Yeah. Just just to follow up on on a lot of folks complaining about sidewalks not being cleared. Look, yes, we do have an ordinance that requires within a certain amount of hours after a certain inch of snowfall, you're required to clear your sidewalks.
We're not going to fine half of our residents for not doing that under this storm. It's just not possible. Yes, we asked you to do it. We would like you to have it done. We did send letters to some of the commercial properties that say, "Look, next time you got to get out there and clean it because folks need to
get through these commercial areas to get to your store and other properties, other stores." So, no fines were issued. Um, yes, there is the ability to do that. We would have been writing tickets and fines for the next 6 months to folks
just to go out and and find all these properties uh and and write those those violations. It's just not something one that we we thought was an effort that worth our time. Yes, it would have been great to have these sidewalks clear and
we will try and work with people in the future about getting that out to them. You know, if you're a summer resident, you're going to have to have your landscaper or somebody a property manager handle that. But during when this iced up, it just wasn't going out and shoveling it. It's, you know, I
helped a a friend out when he couldn't get his person there. And it took me a good hour to hour and a half to do 30 ft just to go out and chip it away. So, it wasn't an easy thing to do before it froze. Luckily, a lot of people in our
street, Tim, we were out there early and got it done before it froze, but uh boy, that that was just it's difficult. So, I don't want to beat a dead horse, but we we tried to do as best we could. I I appreciate the effort my guys had. Um we did have some residents
um step up and buy them pizzas one day, so that was kind of nice. Um they they've had some other folks offer things as well. So it's been nice to to help them out a little bit because they're tired. They've been working more than their normal shifts. Uh lots of overtime as you saw with the the you
know over 500 hours. Um guys are worn out. So hopefully we get a break. Um they're out there this week clearing drains again. So that's all I have on the storm. Um, did you have you wanted to follow up on that, Tim? Or
>> No, no. I I did that while I while you were talking. >> You did? Okay. Gotcha. >> Yep. Thank you. >> Um, update on the boardwalk if you've been up there. We have decking. >> We have decking for about almost a full block now. They've did those two pavilions there just north of the pier.
And I didn't see that they connected to the old boardwalk, but they're getting close. I was up there yesterday, I think, and they were maybe about 30 feet from from connecting um to the the old boardwalk there. So, um you will notice that it does not have the um herring
bone pattern or the angled pattern. Uh we talked about that early on when we bid this project out that it was just not something that we thought was was worth the significant increase in dollars. Um it was it was quite a bit of
of I'm trying to get back on the Zoom. I had pulled something else up. I can't get back to the zoom. >> I remember we talked about those dollars. I remember the number if you if you >> It was It was over a million dollars that we've saved by going to in labor and materials and going to just putting
straight boards back on the on the boardwalk. There there's actually a good article the the um Inquirer reached out, >> right? >> And I put him in touch with Ed Stinson, who's the engineer managing that that project for us. Um and he there's a pretty good article. I think we put a link in the in the upcoming or the most
recent newsletter that talks about it a lot. Um the process, you know, it's a total reconstruction. Um so it it's a project. The boardwalk will be open for this summer. What they can finish till May 31st, they will finish and have
reopened at that point. Uh they will restart again in September of of 26. So next September we'll be starting back up again. Um, and then we can just move on through all next winter to finish the whole that whole section from the pier up to Atlantic City. So, that's an
update on on the boardwalk. Let me add anything. >> Just just a just a one other comment. Sorry. Is that good the savings of of just over a million dollars is the equivalent of a full city block of boardwalk. >> Yeah. >> So, there's a it's a it's a val it's a
there's a it's a huge value for something that is, you know, as iconic as the boardwalk. >> Yeah. I I don't know that exact number, but I'm saying it there was we saved a million dollars and that's you know the the labor the the to cut this material it's dense. It's Camaroo, right? >> Uh it's very similar to EPE. Um it is
very dense. It burns through drill bits. It burns through saw blades. So to cut it, the manpower to do it, the time and the the material you're wasting. Every time you put a piece down, you got to cut it. You're you're cutting a piece off of that that piece of lumber and just goes in the trash. So, um, this way
we ordered it where it's very limited cutting and they're laying it down and and and you know, putting it right in place and screwing it down. So, it's moving it's moving along much quicker. The weather did slow it uh slow it down, especially the pile driving uh cuz they jet those piles in most of the way and
then driving the last few feet. Uh, so the weather was problematic when it was, you know, singledigit temperatures out there and the water's freezing up that you're trying to jet with. So that slowed them down, but they're they're moving forward. They're moving moving well. We had a good contractor on the job.
>> Um, if no one has anything else, I I wanted to and we've we've been following along on some comments on social media regarding the redevelopment plan for the old Ventner professional campus and the Ventner school process. Um, just want to speak tonight to clarify the record regarding redevelopment of the
professional campus and to address persistent misinformation that's been circulating on social media. Um we did invite um the former mayor who's kind of taken on his charge to come tonight. He wasn't able to get here tonight. We're we hope we could have an
open dialogue and clear up these issues that he's asking questions. Okay. Well, come to our meeting and ask him because we're not on that page all the time. We get told by people that stuff's on there. It's not our page. So, we would ask you to come to us with questions instead of putting things out there that
are not accurate. So just to go through the process and this is what the city did to to get this process done, the redevelopment of that site done. The site plan is the law of the land. So that's what sets what the requirements are. While much has been made of the the
broad feasibility language in the redevelopment report, we must distinguish between a planning vision and a binding site plan approval. On November 18th of the last year, it's 2025. The planning board approved a specific plan that mandates the old
school building remain commercial. To be clear, any deviation from that, specifically any attempt to convert the historic structure into residential units, would constitute a substantial change. By law, that would trigger a new application, a new public hearing, new
public notices to everyone within 200 feet. The developer cannot just unilaterally pivot to a residential use based on market conditions or without returning to this room. I'm not in that room. I apologize. Um uh and facing public review and
scrutiny of that project of that change. Um it was specifically talked about at the planning board. Tim, you were there. Um Mayor Chryser was there. Um so I don't know where he's getting that information that you can just unilaterally change that use of that building. So tonight, it's just we're
trying to correct the narrative. If you have questions on stuff that's happening in the city, reach out to us. We'll get back to you. Trust me. When people didn't like the ice on the streets, they called they called Tim, they called me. I'm pretty sure they called Maria. Call us. We'll respond to you. I'm we're
we're very accessible. Um it it's deeply disappointing to hear that a former city official, someone who should be intimately, you know, understanding or intimately aware of the the New Jersey municipal land use law continuing to spread misinformation
to suggest that this city has left the door open for a quiet res that's a quote to to quiet residential conversion ignores the legal reality of the site plan process. spreading these inaccuracies is a disservice to the public and undermines the hard work of our planning professionals. Um the
planning board took a lot of time getting this done. We did a redevelopment plan first. Then the developer came in with a plan based on that redevelopment plan that met all of the criteria. They needed no variances to produce the product that they that
they were designed through that site plan process. Um, and to be clear, the underlying zoning that we didn't create, that was created many years ago, allowed a higher density on that property. When they came to us initially, they wanted to develop the
entire site with an eye to keeping the front building. And that's where we focused. When we came into that redevelopment plan, that's why we created the plan to help save that front building. Um, and that's what we believe
we've done with this site plan approval. Um, something that you you try to do like we're hopefully learning from the re the previous storm on how to treat things better when when we get onto our those those icy streets. Um, we must
also remember, you know, the failures or or mistakes in the past administrations. We must also remember the cost of of administrative shortcuts. The decision by the previous administration to remove the ice rink at the library site without NJ Greenacres approval was a
catastrophic error. By failing to follow the statemandated diversion process, that administration effectively penalized every taxpayer in the city of Ventner. This violation has severely hampered our ability to secure green acres funding for new parks and recreation. We're as we are still
working to rectify this loss that the recreational space in the of that recreational space in the eyes of the state. They are withholding at this moment $300,000 from the city of Etner because they tore down an ice rink that
was built with Greenacres funds many many years ago. They tore it down in 2004. I think that was the date and built the library. Look, library is great. All that follow the right procedures. We cannot get grant funding from the
green acres folks until we resolve this issue. Now, we've been working hard on it since the since day one in our administration. That's we're 10 years in now. We're still working on it and I think mayor hopefully we have something soon coming up on that. We've had some really good conversations with Green
Acres folks and the D and we're we're close. But it's it's very frustrating to have that run that way. Um conclusion, you know, I I I have some pretty detailed notes here. We cannot afford to repeat the lack of transparency or the
act now, ask for permission later style of government. It's not how we've been operating for 10 years. That loss of of us are that lost us our ice rink and our grant eligibility. We have a solid commercial only approval for a former school building. We expect the city to
hold developers to the letter of the of the law and that site plan. and we expect our former leaders to speak truthfully about the processes they once oversaw. Um it's frustrating that this continues to happen. We've had conversations with him in the past and
he continues to put out information that is just not accurate. Again, I ask folks if you have a question about something either come to a meeting in person, Zoom, if you want to meet individually, the three of us are available to do that. That's our role. That's what we signed up for. So, I I'll stop there.
I've been talking for quite a while and I need a drink of water. >> Thank you. >> Thanks, Lance. I I am gonna um Did you want to >> I'd like to just add a couple of comments about the storm if I may. >> Yeah. >> The um I want to echo what what you've
all said about the effort that the public safety departments and the public works departments put in. Uh, but I I don't want to forget the administrative staff because the the office over at public works was swamped with phone calls. Uh, not always the nicest
demeanor on the other end and they put up with a lot of abuse. And that happens in this building as well that people call and they think that it's okay to scream and yell at people and to use the fbomb and, you know, and just to be really disrespectful to people that are
trying to serve them. So, I want to add a a caveat to the comment about everybody's going to get a call back. If they leave a voice message for me that is dropping the fbomb and calling people idiots and that kind of stuff, they're likely not going to get a call back and
they're going to be glad that they didn't. >> Thanks, Don. You're right. There was there was a lot of frustration. >> Yeah. >> On residents parts and they did take it out on whoever picked up the phone. Yeah, >> we did get a lot of that and I got phone calls and
>> and most of the folks I spoke with were not abusive, but I did get calls from some of my staff that said that they were they got an earful. So, and that if I got a chance to talk to that person, I certainly asked them just what you did,
Tom. Don't treat folks that way. There's no reason to do that. >> And you know, we talking about misinformation. And the storm was also a uh a lot of misinformation or I I don't know where people get their information. Do they just make it up? They must I
mean what did you say earlier? 84 tons of salt, >> right? >> The city has no salt. The city has no budget for salt. Where's this information? Where's this coming from? The keyboard warriors just making stuff up. They should be ashamed of themselves as hard as our our
crews were out there working. And as Tom said, in the offices, they're they didn't get any sleep. They're in the cold. And the people are out there in their nice, warm homes bitching and complaining. Like you say, it's the vocal minority, but it's still upsetting. It's bad info. It's negative
info. It's a disgrace to our employees. >> What what happened there, Maria, is that people twisted the information. Lance pointed out, I think very clearly that we don't have the capacity to store enough salt to to salt all the side streets and to salt the whole town. So
the focus is on public safety and emergency access for the main thorough affairs. And when people were told that we don't have salt to do the side streets, that's what it morphed into is you idiots don't have salt. >> Listen better. >> You didn't put money in budget. >> Yeah. >> Who's the jerk that did that?
>> Right. And then the same day I'm reading this or hearing about this, we're getting salt delivered. 50 tons. >> Yeah. >> Right. >> Yeah. We got 50. Right. Right. As that that's that's as much as we can store. We had the salt to do the roads that we
do. Like I said, even if we had salted the side streets, it was too cold for it to work. It and and we don't use the stuff you use on your sidewalk. I asked this question. I learned this is something I learned during the storm. I said because Rick called me. He said, ' Lance, this
this road salt doesn't work. I said, 'Well, can we get bags of this other stuff? Because I the stuff I throw down, but it's calcium manganesees or whatever the heck it is. It was working all the whole time on my sidewalk. You don't use that on roads. One, the D doesn't allow
you to do it because you don't want that as the amount you have to put down on the streets. It damages the streets. It also goes into the bay down here, so into your storm drains and into the bay. Granted, residents are using it. They don't have the same restrictions as a municipality does,
>> you know. And I said to myself, what's everybody talking about? I went through Margate, Longport, Summers Point, Northfield, Lynwood, drove all through those towns. Every town was the same with their side streets. Granite, some side streets in each town were better
than other side streets in each town. Longport Beach block looked like it never snowed, but everything else it don't have cars on the street. >> Everything was the same. of of the town beach communities. We have more year-round residents, >> right? >> And that means there's cars on the street.
>> We are all in the same boat, >> right? But as Lance said, we we're unique in that we have a lot of narrower streets than those cities and we have more cars on the street that you really don't want those uh those plows damaging cars and and the I and and and the plows
weren't as Lance said, the plows weren't effective against the ice. Yeah, you can't. The only thing that's effective and I learned something else. I said, "Why can't we get a loader down here and just, you know, run down the street?" Well, loaders and the backhoe, not the backhoe, the um bobcat, they call it the
JCB. It's a little bobcat thing that runs around. >> So, they don't have floats on the front of the on the bucket. A plow has a float on it and that's in that's important because what that does it allows it to go over manholes or
imperfections in the street, curbs, things like that. When it hits something, it pops up. That doesn't happen with a loader or the little Bobcat. It rips the manhole out of the ground. It rips a a water valve out of the ground, damages the piece of equipment, and can injure the driver. I
had a friend in Brigantine years ago that hit a manhole during a flood with a with a loader, a D90 940 loader. He was in the hospital for a month for internal injuries. So, you can't use certain equipment. Again, something I learned to do what would have been nice to use.
>> Yeah. But the and I I just want to reiterate that this was not a normal storm there. You know, the the bay is frozen over, which does hasn't happened in a long time. The the the Delaware Bay you is frozen over. You can't get you can't get the uh ferry t the ferry tick
to to Delaware is running slow. The the you know this is this was this with the windchills was uh like you know I've never heard of us uh of our of our apparatus having having um fro h within a call ha having pipes freezing within
the apparatus you know with an hour on the road. >> So it was a unique experience. >> I don't ever remember temperatures this low. Philadelphia, those those kinds of Yeah. >> When's the last time snow stuck around for two weeks? >> Right. Right. So, so hopefully we're at
a balmy 40 degrees now. >> Um we'll be >> It's like spring. >> It's like spring. Um I apologize, but I am going to circle back to the the Troy Avenue thing because it is very unique and I did want to just um support the things that you said about it. Um this
is one of the largest developments that the city has seen. We know, Lance, when you and I and Maria um we all uh ran in a town that was a drive-thru town. The town by the time you got to I remember counting the closed businesses. By the
time you got to Troy Avenue, I stopped counting at a hundred of closed off closed businesses. So, this right revitalization is something that um did not happen overnight. It did not happen without all of the public um uh notices
and the dialogue that took place, but I do understand how the public can feel sometimes that that when things do finally surface in the news or on social media, it feels as though it may be some surprise and then but there there really it really is not a surprise. This went
through uh since 2023 numerous three years of redevelopment meetings and reiterations of the design. The design came to us as a very um sort of like a very uh utilitarian design. Um
we uh we we we reduced the density. Um we reduced the we we create we created something that is more of a has more curb appeal. And I and even though there's going to be people that don't believe this, it's gonna in my professional opinion and as a designer
and someone that's worked in architectural design in over 25 years, the streets the streetcape of this property is going to feel less dense than the surrounding areas. And I also feel that the back that the that the the parking conditions, which were
one of the biggest problems, is that this area is going to have its own self-sustaining parking. I I know people are going to have a hard time believing this, but if you were to take this development and put it anywhere else in the city in a similarlyssized plot of land, this park, this area will
have more off- streetet parking than any of those other developments. So, while I realize that people may feel like something's being taken away, um the the parking will not necessarily be worse in this area. And there's a lot of other
misinformation that came I think that fed into some of the things that you mentioned that you know the site plan is the rule of the the rule of the land that and that the main benefit is that we are that is contingent on keeping
that front Troy Avenue school and adaptively reusing into other opportunities like restaurants um and the shops that are already being more utilized in a in a denser space there. um this is going to be an anchor for
that side of town when it's when it's fully utilized. Um but there's a lot of other things that I think people start to um start to grind their teeth about. You know, why didn't they turn it why wasn't it turned into a public park? Well, it's public. It's private property. That ship sailed in
>> ' 87 >> 87 1987. The city doesn't have those kinds of We can't jump in and say, "Let's build a parking lot." It's not private. It's private property. It's not It's not public property. Um, and some of the other concerns, uh, will these be
short-term rentals? No, that was part of the permanent deed restriction in this development that these will not be and it's illegally binding, um, that they will not be short-term rentals. Um, you know, these are the the the the um what are tax abatements and how do they work? You know, why are they
getting is it a giveaway? A tax abatement is in this kind of scale is not a giveaway. It's a tool that's used throughout municipal development that turns vacant and underutilized properties into a productive asset. This has been a empty parking lot for 40
years. This is now going to generate predictable revenue. It's going to it's going to uh grow uh tax values around it and it's going to create better infrastructure around. This is going to be the only block in the city that's going to have hidden utility lines. That's part of what I think the curb
appeal is going to be. you're not going to see those utility lines in this this area. Um and the the and the front school will not be um will will not be torn down. Um so I I just think it's important that actual accurate
information specifically the use of the front building is is um is conveyed to the to the general public. Um it's the dialogue should be um is healthy but it should be based on on facts and uh I I
encourage everybody to come to the planning board meetings and come to our meetings um when these things come up on the agendas. I know it's not always convenient but you can zoom from the privacy of your warm home. Um the um uh and then as we said on the agenda
earlier there is a master plan. That's another really great example for people that are interested in these things um to come out and voice their opinion and get engaged about what the future holds for the and and I I I know that we all feel this way but I think it bears
repeating that there's um the goal our goals are to make sure that it's always a net win for Ventner developers um are take on their own risk but um along with the master plan and the and the decisions we make every day having uh moving the city forward is our main goal
for everybody. So, >> agree. >> Well, well said, mayor. >> Thank you. >> I think we're fortunate to have you two on the planning board because this is really your profession also. So, you know what you're doing. You know what you're looking at. You know what you're
talking about. I wouldn't know what I was looking at. I mean, I know we all sat with the developer and we all looked at, you know, the first look at what these were going to look like and we were all like, "No, you have to change this. We didn't like it." That was about
>> If you remember, the first design had the house's face in Troy and New Haven, >> right? >> Yeah. And and they they just didn't have any bells and whistles on them. I I I really think this was a really good cooperation between what the city what what they what they envision and what we
think fits the city. They've got um the the setbacks that were given, the balconies, the bringing in brick from the from the from the building itself, I think is going to be attractive. Um and um and and some of the things that we want to do in in a town, the things that
we like like our our restaurants and our shops, you need population for that. >> Yeah. And you know, we're, you know, we're this is a positive. It's a net positive. >> So, >> great. >> Thank you.
>> Long. Any other Commissioner comments? >> No, that was that was the longest we've gone, I think. >> Yeah. I apologize, >> Commissioner Vince. >> Yeah, that might have been a little bit about that, too. >> Frustrating when you see bad information going out. >> Yep. I won't
>> and nobody's asked. No. No. >> All right. So, um, hearing no more, uh, commissioner reports or comments. Is that okay? Can I move on to the the, uh, third? Yep. >> Final here. Uh, item 29 is public comments. >> One last thing. I apologize. Um, lead
line lead service line replacement seminar. >> Public meeting is going to be next Saturday, >> um, February 21st at 10:00 a.m. at the Ventner School VC auditorium. Um, no charge to come obviously. So, it's just come on out. The folks that we have
helping us provide information to the public both online will be there to help us explain some of the processes. There's a link on our website. There's a link in the newsletter to some more information on that. Uh we will be ramping this pro project up uh probably
this spring. You'll start seeing some work being done. We're going to start in the Heights um to replace the lead service lines in the city. Our mains are are fine. It's the lines that go from the main to your home that that have potential of lead or galvanized pipe in
it. I will reiterate this and I said this the first time we we were told by the state we have to do this. The lead in our in in water lines throughout the state. The the threshold is 15 parts per billion. We've never crossed two parts
per billion uh in in Ventner city. You know, no no lead in your system is is good at all. But we're way below a threshold. Um, but we're still required to do the the project. Uh, we are first or second in line to get funding for
this from the state, the IBank as well as the state granting us, you know, the at least the first two phases of this up to $20 million. Um, this is a 65 to $70 million project over the and we have to have it done from what they were telling
us a couple years ago by the early 2030s. I don't think that's happening, but that's what we're trying to do. We'll get more information on the 21st at 10 a.m. I will be there. I'm not I know Maria, I think you're out of town. Um, and Tim, I don't know if you're able
to make it or not, but I will be there. So, hope to see everybody come out. >> Great. >> Thank you. Yep. Thanks for reminding me of that as well. It's important. Um, at this point I'd like a motion to open the meeting to public comment for anything
ventner related. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Roll call. Lisa. >> Commissioner Langrav. >> Yes. >> Commissioner Mento. >> Yes. >> Mayor Kville. >> Yes. So at this point anyone uh who would like to participate in um in the
the workshop the regular session here can speak about anything uh related to ventner in any way shape or form. Uh anyone in the just ask you to come up to the microphone seeing my favorite bike shop owner Mike
Wheezen. State your name and address please. I can't hear him on Zoom. >> Oh. Uh, uh, can you hit that but that button there, please? >> Sorry. Sorry. I should know that. >> Repeat again. Mike Ween, 326 North
Dorset Avenue, Venner. um the effort you guys put in because I haven't come to a commission meeting in a long time since the Kelly administration because of the bickering at that time between the commissioners. I love seeing you guys
work together. Um as far as our former mayor Tim, he's a good man. He he dedicated himself to the city for a long long time. his misinformation
in his mind I believe may he may think is true. A good sitdown may clarify all that. Um I believe anybody that volunteers for the city should never expect anything in return when they're done doing their
volunteering or serving in office. Most people that volunteer or run for commission are doing it for the love of Ventner. Everyone on the planning board I feel does that. Not looking for a
patting a pat on the back or anything. Lance, you presented all the facts. And I'm really glad that maybe Tim wasn't here for the facts to be presented. Maybe he'll read this or listen to it and think about what he's putting out
there. But I think a good sit down to eye to eye will iron out a lot of things and make the city what I think it is a great great city diversified and a great place to live. And I felt that
ever since I moved here. Um my mother moved here in when I was in high school. So, let's keep Ventner going the way it's been for the last few years and we're going to be great. We're already great. We're going to be greater.
>> Thank you. >> Thanks, Mike. I did reach out to um former Mayor Chryser and uh gave him a couple dates next week for us to sit down. So, hopefully we'll get a chance to >> Yeah. Um, anybody in the
uh Zoom platform that would like to speak about anything vent related? >> Anybody on Zoom? Oh, got Nicole Jacobe. >> Nicole Jacobe. >> Hi everyone. Um, my video is not working
for some reason. Nicole here. Uh, local mother and business owner. Um, 5609 Edgewater Avenue. Uh, I'll keep this brief. I came on in 2023 and 2024 regarding this issue. I skipped last year because there was so
much construction on our street. But my concern is um I have young children. Uh there's a lot of children in this area. We have multiple disabled adults who use walking andor chair devices. And the speeding on Edgewater A is insane. And that's
because it's five blocks of what they feel is a a freeway with zero stop signs. So back in 24 when I came on for the second or third time, we discussed putting a radar speed sign up. I understand, you know, we dis you guys,
you know, educated me on, you know, we can't put speed bumps for this reason. We can't put a stop sign for this reason. Um, so what we discussed was putting a a radar speed sign off, you know, which didn't happen. And then like I said last year there was so much construction over here between the cans
and the work vehicles you can't even drive. Not to mention speed, right? But now that all of that is done and I think we need to revisit this because again it's it's an issue that's dragging on for years now and we need it. >> Well, um much appreciated. I know there were four houses under construction last
summer on Edgewater and they all had uh cans out front and multiple trucks was also the problem. They also have a huge construction vehicles that made it difficult to um navigate that street. I
um we do have a number of uh um uh radar signs. >> We can we can we can install one there for the I would I would M Jacobe I would imagine summertime is the worst or do you >> Yeah, I'm just trying to get a jump on it because I know stuff doesn't happen
overnight and you know I didn't want to you know go another summer. I have another young child now um since this started. So um you know we discussed putting it I guess on um Somerset or SuffK or whatever's in the street in the middle which is kind of at the middle
point. Um so or Somerset that's what it was. So if we can you know possibly work on that as we approach you know um Memorial Day weekend that would be great. >> I think there's also an issue with people making right turns and going the wrong way. was another thing we talked about putting one-way signs as well.
That's also an issue. Although because they're turning from a stop sign, hopefully they're stopping, but yes, driving the wrong way. And like I said, this year without the cans, they're going to be back at it. I had a break last year with the construction. Um Okay. >> So, yeah, the one way is an issue, too.
>> We can definitely do the one-way signs and then we'll maybe Tim, we can send PD rep out with with Rick to find a location for the the radar sign. Yeah, I we usually do that right away, so I'm surprised it did it missed. I apologize for that. >> Yeah, no problem. I just want to stay
ahead of it, please. Thank you. >> Yep. >> You're welcome. Thank you. >> Anybody else on the Zoom platform or um >> anybody else on Zoom wish to make any comments?
>> No. >> No. >> Hearing none. Uh, may I have a motion to close public comment? >> So moved. >> Second. >> I have roll call, Lisa. >> Commissioner Langra, >> yes. >> Commissioner Mento, >> yes. >> Mayor Kville,
>> yes. Uh, do we have uh executive session? >> No. >> Um, I know we had talked about going into it about potential litigation. Do we want to push that to the 26th? >> Uh, Tom is mentioning yes. >> Okay.
Yeah, Lance, I I haven't had a chance yet to speak with with Katherine, our solicitor. I'm not sure that what we're going to discuss really needs to be executive session. Maybe it does, but I'm not sure. >> All right. >> All right. So, >> we can we can put it to the 26th. And
I'd rather be there in person for that. I I truly appreciate you guys letting me do it from remote. Yeah, a nice leisurely drive up here today in daylight, which is the first time that that's happened in probably 20 years of driving to Vermont. >> So, well, the connection's much better. It's very good. So, we It was a easy
meeting, but we'll do that. We'll do that in next executive session when we're all present. >> Um, with no other comments for the good of the order, I can uh ask for a motion for adjournment. >> So, moved. >> Second. >> Roll call. Lisa,
>> Commissioner Langra, >> yes. Commissioner Mento. Yes. Mayor >> Creable. >> Yes. Meeting adjourned.