um will the clerk please read the statement adequate notice of reorganization meeting was provided to the public in the Press on January 6 2023 and December 26 2023 and was posted at the municipal building in accordance with the open public meetings act NJ sa 10 sem 4-7 please join me as we salute our flag I 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 we did um have a we do have a guest um scheduled to come and sing the star bangled banner she is running a little late so we're going going to just delay that part of the agenda um until she arrives and just in case anyone wants to know Vernon had the two-hour delay I just got the text message so for those of you that have kids you can sleep in tomorrow um can uh we have the certification of the election of Mayor and Council yes a statement of the determination of the board of County canvases relative to an election held in the township of Veron County of Sussex and state of New Jersey for the election of C and officers for said municipality on the 7th Day of November 2023 the said board does determine that the said election the following officers Anthony Rossy mayor fouryear term William J Higgins Township Council four-year term Bradley D sarta Township Council fouryear term Jessica D benedetto Township Council two-year unexpired term were duly elected to the offices and for the terms set above okay thank you can I have a roll call vote please yes council member bueri yes council member D benedetto yes council member rudo yes council member spida present okay um now we'll have the swearing in of Mayor Anthony Rossy by judge Lamers hey guys you want stand in front too if you want Anthony no I don't think they can see these things oh you can't see that's Cera it's up never mind I'm sorry yeah everybody can come up someone can hold the Bible for him yes that way you can get a nice picture you know want why don't you switch around so they can see y perfect there we go that's perfect okay Bible close left hand right hand okay I Anthony Rossy do solemnly affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States I Anthony Rossi solemnly sorry Solly affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and Allegiance and I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same to the same and to the governments established in the United States and to the governments established in the United States and this state and this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people I do further solemnly affirm I do further solemnly affirm that I will faithfully impartially and justly that I will faithfully impartially and justly perform all the duties as mayor of Vernon Township perform all the duties as mayor of Vernon Township according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God congratulations man have the swearing in of of William Higgin yeah that's right yep okay oh nice very kind now we'll have the flaring of member bill hiin by your right hand I don't one right okay I William Higgins I William Higgins who Solly affirm who solemnly affirm that I will support the Constitution that I will solemnly support the Constitution of the United States of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the con constition of state of New Jersey that it will bear true faith and Allegiance it will bear true faith and allegiance to the same to the same and to the government's established to the United States and to the government established to the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people I further solemnly affirm I further solemnly affirm that I will faithfully and impartially I will faithfully and impartially and justly perform all the duties and justly perform all the duties as council member as council member of the Vernon Township of the Vernon Township Council Council according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God help me God congratulations right come take a seat bill you get you get to sit down up here Bill up he doesn't get to leave now now you have to sit here you can't change your mind okay and now we will have the swearing in of council member Bradley Sparta by state assemblyman Mike and ganore Mom and Dad the middle the got a picture left hand on the Bible raise your right hand is that right think so I don't know okay ready ready I Bradley Sparta I Bradley Sparta do solemnly affirm do solemnly affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States and to the governments established in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people I further solemnly affirm I further solemnly affirm that I will Faithfully that I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly and justly perform all the duties perform all the duties of council member of the Vernon Township Council of council member of the Vernon Township Council according to the best of my ability according to the best of my abilities so help me God so help me God congratulations stand than very nice congratulations okay and now we will have the saring in of our fire department Chiefs and deputies by state l in Parker space all come forward thank you thank you sir hey Parker Parker why don't you come around this that way they can be on the camera that way they can see on the T yeah then you're on the there we go perfect my goodness look at all these hands there's too many you're good right there you're good you're good okay I think everybody I think everyone's in the pretty much okay all right thanks gentl I state your name do Solly affirm affirm that was I will support the Constitution of the United States support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey contion of state of New Jersey I will bear TR faith and Allegiance faith and allegiance to the same to the same and the governments established in the United States establish in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people the of people I do further solemnly affirm that will faithfully and impartially impartially and justly justly perform all the duties as state your title of the Veron Township Fire Department according to the best of my ability so help me guide congratulations gentlemen congratulations conratulations congratul congratul congratulations than you very much congratul congratul just gonna walk right by congratulations congratulations thank you very much thank you congratulations congratulations congratulations than you conratulations now we have the swearing in of um emergency forward Mr Duffy that side WI oh okay there you are there he is I'm like I know I saw him okay swearing in of our Emergency Medical Services volunteers ready I state your name hi have nothing to solemnly affirm to solemnly affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and I will bear true faith and Allegiance and I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same to the same and the governments established and the governments established in the united states in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people and I do further solemnly affirm and I do further solemly affirm I will Faithfully I will faithfully and impartially and impartially and justly justly perform and justly perform all the duties of all the duties of State your title chief operations officer deputy chief operations Lieutenant Logistics Lieutenant a Vernon Emergency Medical Services a Vernon Emergency Medical Services according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me guide so help me guide and I think we should get up to thank you congratulations thank you very much congratulations congrat congratulations congratulations congratulations congratulations thank you congratulations thank you congratulations thank you congatulations than so do we have EA or no not yet okay we'll have a we'll have a short recess if anyone wants to congratulate um those members that have conc morning in or take a couple pictures we have a short may have a motion second second all in favor I any oppos okay we're in recess by Miss benedetto second by Mr Spa all in favor okay we are back in session and um now we are going to um enjoy um I'm sorry I don't know I don't know her name Ally Ally okay Ally Thomas will be um singing the stor bangled banner does she have a microphone yes y we got one okay okay yeah ready okay so please join me as we stand and [Music] um the we so the night night was still oh s that are [Music] s thank you Ali you're right thank you all right now we will um have our our new mayor's comments mayor Anthony Rosy you madam president I think the first order of business should be making Ally Thomas our official singer of The National Anthem Round of Applause for Ally good evening ladies and gentlemen thank you all for coming here this evening before I start I want to thank mayor Howard Burell for his service to our country and Vernie as the mayor or any other elected official you know we will not please everyone still you sir have always remain professional positive and available to do the job to do this job to the best of your ability and that's all anyone can ask mayor Bell has led this town through through the most difficult times in our country has seen with covid knocking on his door brought many other challenges but he got us through this I applaud you for that leadership I want to I want to thank you for opening the door to me and a and access to information and staff after the election after the election so that we can have a smooth transition and just as you did for me my door people's door will always be open for you I hope you enjoy your retirement but I know you will continue to serve the state in some capacity as you said it will be on your time that's important thank you again for your service congratulate our new council members Mr Bill Hagins and Miss Jessica D benad and the reelection the reelected Council council member Bradley spart that either word doesn't make a difference I also want to congratulate Our Heroes those heroes are the men and women who wear the uniform what you do for the people in this community is unmeasurable may God bless you pleas stay safe we could please let's give them a round of applause I also want to apport some additional people they don't seem to get the recognition they deserve and just because they do not have emergency lights on their vehicles doesn't mean they are not Heroes these men and women plow our streets pave our roads fill our potholes clean our streets from falling debris pop safe and clean so that our children have a safe place to to play and hundreds of other issues they tackle daily they are our very own DPW I want to thank my family my parents always supporting me I hope I made you proud to my friends my campaign manager we couldn't make it Kelly anart uh I thank you for supporting me and Kelly thank you for all the hard work on this campaign which led us here today I want to thank Carmen who has been extremely patient with me especially during this campaign I know it is a lot to sit it's a lot to sit there and watch the people you love become a personal and political Target but as you look around the room it makes it all worth it lastly I want to thank the voters for trusting me to lead Vernon as your next mayor for the next four years I take this responsibility seriously and will work hard to deliver the results that's only in the best interest of the Vernon taxpayers thank you today is the orderly transfer of authority as called for in the Constitution which happens every four years in BN and abroad however this day is normally on January 1st but this year it was moved to January 15th it wasn't our decision to move the DAT but sometimes things happen for a reason maybe the reason is because it's Martha Lon King Jr Day Mont Luther King Jr was one of the most inspiring and important figures in American History Dr King taught us to stand up for what we believe in through simple peaceful means to unite our nation instead of dividing it this Unity has been seen right here in Vernon one example of this Unity is Mayor barell and I as many of you as many as you know all know mayor Burell and I sit on completely opposite sides uh opposite sides the political aisle the mayor and I had some disagreements in the beginning that's okay but but we work through it because that's what's in the best interest of Vernon I am sure we will not agree on everything I will not agree with everything with the council and vice versa but I will work with everyone for the betterment of earon we were not elected to fight with each other because that would prevent our town from moving forward and we cannot afford it this is just common sense and we all campaign that we will use that use it we are elected to do the work for the people in our community and we we must always remember that we must always remember remember that but just because we may not agree on something doesn't mean someone is wrong it just means that we have a different opinion and it is important to always respect each other's opinions and find ways to reach an agreement but also never take it personally the difference of opinion and ideas is what our founding fathers intended for us which is written in the Constitution I want to take a moment bear with me to to comment about my campaign leading up to this day this election was probably the worst Vernon has ever seen and what was really sad to see was that some of our former Town administrators committee members former councilmen stooped to an all new low Inver politics by recruiting and trigging some of past family members do their dirty work for them they took advantage of a broken home especially when they have children when there's children involved my situation was not caused by on self regardless of the other on of the one side told story everyone knows that there's three sides to a story and these people should know better especially the position they once held but that's the key word here once these dirty tactics were the reasons why volunteer volunteerism is down not just in Vera but across the country and also why many people will not run for office but this type of behavior failed for them and the vote is seen right through it because it is one of the reasons why I am sitting here as your mayor as your new mayor as for the political rhetoric calling me a tea party extremist etc etc as if it was something bad I have never been extreme about anything my life but that's okay I'll take it I guess but let me tell you what a tea party member is for some for some of you who don't who do not know it's a person who wants lower taxes less government control and believes in the Constitution the way it was originally written so for the record I am a tea party member an NRA member and a member of the new Vernon GOP group but we are a nonpartisan Town excuse me we are nonpartisan town so politics have no place in our former government our government sorry apologize um my conf skipped um but I but I want the people to know that we are a nation that has a government and not the other way around we work for you and I will always remind everyone who we work for our government has no power except that granted it by the people a government for by and of the people in the next few months I have a budget to present but until then I will direct my Administration to re-evaluate their current spending and challenge them to explore more ways to reduce spending I'm not coming into this office terminate employees let me be clear so please I want everyone to relax I will work on the issues to help our employees succeed because if they succeed we all succeed as a community I believe in investing in our employees so that we can fully utilize their full potential with this and the fact that Vernon is the largest municipality in Sussex County we will push our shared services across the county to optimize our earning potential and capabilities I have meetings set up to discuss the yearly tax reassessment which I know is a hot topic for all of us in addition I have an agreement with the tax assessor's office to hold an open Forum to be announced soon and we'll discuss the new the new tax bill and other issues and concerns that you may have I have also been meeting with developers and potential investors and and many more on the calendar ahead we're looking to come in and invest in our town we need the new T we the new ratables connecting to our sewer line which will help reduce the cost of of the sewer fees to our current connected users who are paying far too much and that's a priority of mine but to do this we must become business friendly a business friendly Township I already have a plan in place so we will we will be restructuring our ways on how we do business current and future potential investors we will and I repeat we will be business friend a business friendly Township Madame President this concludes my comments thank you thank you m some brief comments um I just want to thank the council members who supported me for um council president for 2023 I enjoyed um being the council president doesn't um mean that you have any more um influence um it's just a little more responsibility but it definitely uh it definitely was enjoyable I learned a lot I I uh was able to work closely more closely with Marcy and um and she's a great support to our Council and I really appreciate all the hard work that you do Marcy um working with mayor more closely mayor Howard Burell um was able to work really well with him and I enjoyed that last year and and I appreciate working together with him and I just appreciated um that little extra um ability to represent our community so I just thank everyone for their support for 2023 I look forward to working with our new mayor uh mayor Rossy in 2024 as a individually and also as a council together I welcome Mr Higgins to the council we serve together on the school board so it's it's nice to have him here and Mr Sparta again I served with him on the school board too so it's almost like a little reunion for us and uh Miss de benedetto so and Mr rosuto actually you know what actually four out of four out of five y council members are former school board members so you're gonna have to run for school board at some point Jessica hard now hard now okay um so I I just want to thank all of my my uh my H Council me my fellow council members for with me this past year I really enjoyed it and I look for forward to 2024 thank you thank you n thank you okay um so now council president nominations and selections do I ask for the nomination Marcy or should you do that or Marlin I ask for the nomination okay you want to handle it yes okay do we have any nominations for council president I'd like to nominate Pat rudo do we have any other nominations for council president right not do we have a second second I will take a vote council member bueri yes council member D benedetto yes council member Higgins yes council member rudo yes council members Florida yes carries than congratulations than please stay there are you sure yes absolutely going congratulations sir thank you right there you can ask may I have nominations for Council vice president I'd like to nominate Mrs bueri second there any other nominations if not nominations are closed prop call council member buer yes council member D benedetta yes Council M Higgins yes council president Ruda yes member Sparta yes motion carries thank you thank you conrat thank you may this time I'd like to have our new council members make some comments if they have them prepared or want to it I'll say a few words if I may okay want to thank everybody who voted for me last November and uh I look forward to earning the trust and showing sound judgment my goal as a member of the Town Council is to help reestablish the soundwork relationship between the mayor and Town Council and have Vernon moved forward we have some important issues to address including taxes reevaluations services set from previous decisions concerning stor and the situation concerning Legend's Resort Vernon Town government is responsible for 20% of your taxes but we get about 100% of the criticism and it's and we're very visible concerning all the services we offer due to the fact that uh taxpayers are using the services every day those who sign my petition when I asked them to sign it told me what they hop for whenever the new government takes place in the new Council and I hope to deliver on those things so I remembered them all I wrote them down and uh we'll see if we can deliver on some of it and then just as a small proof statement it was controversy even leading up to this meeting on Facebook about appointing a a town attorney and uh different differences of opinions and you'll notice there are no differen of opinions right now this is the proof statement that the council and the mayor have worked together we're moving forward coming up with the solutions that are best for the town so right away we had an opportunity to uh show what we're all about and I thank you thank you Mr Higgin who's Mr Spar yeah I don't have anything formally prepared but I do want to thank the community and the voters uh uh who voted in in the November election uh I want to also thank my my running mate Mr Higgins uh Mr Higgins and I probably have known each other for better part of a decade now and while we're aligned on a lot of things we also different on some things and and that's what I think made us a good team going forward so um I also want to thank mayor Rossy um you know he said something in his in his comments that that rang true and I actually said them uh a year ago or so and it's about difference of opinion and that's what I think makes good government right and the object is to be able to work through it find Solutions be amical about it be respectful about it when I was on the school board I had a vice president who was like mayor Bell to you was political opposite to me I had some of my best conversations with her and she never got me over the fence she got me closer to but they're always respectful she understood where I was coming from and I understood where she was coming from so um I think that's imperative to have is a difference opinion but it has to be respectful and so far mayor Rossy his communication as with me at least has been um impeccable uh it's been above and beyond actually and I appreciate that level of communication uh and I know that it wasn't just a matter of uh leading up to the election because it's been even more sense I hope that communication and I have no doubt to think differently will only get better and more frequently moving forward and I think the town is going to benefit from that relationship uh between us uh I just for for people who don't know um my great-grandmother was born in Glennwood in 1886 and a lot of people ask me you know why do I do this I do it because I feel like I ow something to the town I I served on the board of ed for nine years uh I've been here for a little over a year now um I certainly don't do it for the glory or the wordss that's for sure I do it because I think the town needs people to come forward and serve the town without any type of agenda and I think that's the best way to do it without an agenda and um i' I've never had an agenda when when I've done anything so uh I I'm open to uh listening to my fellow council members to Mayor Rossy on ideas so um I do want to thank my family uh my my parents were here tonight I'm thankful that they were able to come um my wife Robin my daughters Haley and Sydney who uh many times have to sit and listen to me on the phone on the weekends when I should be spending time with them and uh I couldn't ask for three better girls in my life um to go through life with so I want to thank them that's all thank you thank you Mr Sparta and Mrs de benedetto may I have some comments May the audience have some comments from you okay I didn't prepare anything that's okay Sometimes the best come right off we'll see top of the sleeve all right well I want to congratulate Anthony and every Bill and Brad and Natalie on your vice president appointment council president appointment I want to thank the voters for trusting me and thank my family and friends for supporting me throughout the campaign it that's it thank you very much I have a short a few short comments but first I would like to thank my fellow council members for their expression of support and confidence me and electing me as council president having held this position number of times previously I am aware of the trust that my fellow council members have placed in me and the responsibilities that this position carries with it this year brings to Vernon a number of challenges and along with them opportunities for helping our Township Prosper certainly Evergreen issues such as rising taxes expansion of ratables to offset increased taxation reduction of long-term debt through skillful financial management will be addressed by by the council yet even in the face of an inflationary economy that confront that confronted our Township's budget as well as our own personal budgets the township managed to avoid any increase in its share of the taxes in budgets by relying on a use of combination of reduced Appropriations and our fund balance please know that Vernon is in a fine Financial shape enjoying a low debt to asset ratio and a strong financial statement we look forward to seeing work begin on our over 55 55 unit housing facility off Church Street this spring as well as initial preparations for construction on the Ryan Holmes project additional projects are well underway awaiting final approvals many many of them tied to interest sensitive decision I would hope that the community allows mayor and councel to begin working together under the form of government that directs our Township setting priorities and relying on each other's advice and counsel and I was going through some papers cleaning them out my good friend John mcgaan God bless his soul gave me a statement that he always carried with it and when I was in his office last there it was and blazoned on a a piece of wood that he had had it burned into a statement from Sir Edmund Burke for those of you who don't know he was a uh conservative philosopher in England and uh spoke on any number of issues regarding politics and political uh issues as well as uh forms of uh Financial uh development he stated your representative owes you not his industry only but his judgment and he betrays instead of serving you if he sacrifices it to your opinion so I I just kind of thought that that would be something that people might want to think about because as especially the new members of the council are seated for the next four years and Mrs bueri and myself complete our tour two years left that many cases this becomes the basis for many of the decisions that we make we may not necessarily he uh decide that what you're saying is not appropriate or not applicable but in many cases we just have our own decision on it and uh I think that That's the basis the stewardship of our government of our country and I would hope of our Township thank you the yes yes before going into our uh public comments i' like to ask former councilman Mr Joseph tadrick to come forward I get a bill for this problem hope it's m it's not it's not from what you always tell me this adds to your collection right Mr tadrick I know that you have had a studied past in military and in federal government and maybe working at this level may not have been as intriguing intriguing very good true hopefully it may have been more fun fun and I'd like to present to you this plaque which states Joseph tadrick in recognition of your dedication and service to the township of Vernon and residents as a member of the township Council thank you thank you so much I got to shake your hand even you I've never seen get out I know it's probably I can get it on eBay may I have a motion to open the floor for public comments second all in favor signify by by saying I I opposed motion carries public comments at this portion are limited to three minutes per individual and are related to current agenda items only please uh yes hi I'm Heidi L I'm sorry I'm heid L L Vernon congratulations mayor and uh Bill and Brad and and I'm looking forward to a great year I feel it and it's it's good change but I want to start off with this Our Father Who Art in Heaven sacred and holy be thy name your kingdom come your will done on Earth as it is in heaven one moment please give us this day forward excuse me strength is this related to a public yes it's to give strength not an agenda item but it's just a comment that I have no I'm sorry I have three minutes but it's not an agenda item you'll have you can have excuse me you'll have an opportunity at the end of the meeting to speak anything that you want this is terrible no it's not it's just it's just a comment simply the way the meeting is structured right so if there's anything else you'd like to talk about as related just for me to say year 2024 absolutely and you may say that at the end of the meeting and I'll FL along with you there anyone else is there anyone else we have anybody in online I don't see any hands up okay I'm sorry this one up Jessie paladini Mrs paladini yes good evening I wish I could have been there tonight but four of us from Vernon went out for dinner three nights ago and one tested positive yesterday for covid so I'm calling in this is about mayor rossy's election and swearing in so it is an agenda item today to is a new day for Vernon Township Anthony Rossy won by an absolute landslide in what was the filthiest campaign I have seen in 40 years in Vernon somebody told me last week that the election was the electorates repudiation of previously failed and recycled candidates Vernon residents now have a new opportunity to work together for the best interest of our Township there will always be those who will criticize and complain about everything but there really only are about a dozen of those while there are hundreds and possibly thousands who want to turn our town around by working together and moving forward it's like mayor Rossi continually says Vernon first now I originally put this part in my pre-prepared statement and then took it out but I now put it back in after hearing what mayor Rossy had said some are ridiculing the new powers that be both municipally and countywide by calling them tea party using it as a portive well my history books tell me that it was the Tea Party the Boston te party that turned our country around and got it out from under a despotic strangle hold so I commend these individuals both on the municipal and County levels in closing I believe that mayor Rossy and the new council members will listen to and take to heart with the people who truly care about our town have to say and not just want things for their own selfin and egos so tonight I say welcome mayor Rossi and welcome new council members I sincerely wish all of you the best of luck in leading our town and I and many others will do everything we can to support you in that endeavor thank you thank you Mrs badini anyone else I don't have anybody any other hands up anyone else wishing to come forward if not I'll ask for a motion to close the Flor sor oh it's okay Doren Edwards Mrs Edwards how are you good evening I'm doing well thank you very much I'm very happy to see mayor Anthony Rossy sitting in that seat and all the new Council people and newly elected once again Vice p and president so I wish you all the very best in 2024 and going forward I'm excited Anthony I really enjoyed what you had to say you were saying what was in your heart and I app appreciate that that's what we need we need citizens to stand up and show their morals so uh again I wish everybody well and I hope you continue with the zoom that might not be on the agenda but right now it's the it's the way that I have to uh weigh in on different issues within the town so thank you very much all the best thank you anyone else if not I'll ask for a motion to close the meeting who public I'll second second roll call please council member buer yes council member D benedetto yes council member Higgins yes council president rudo yes council member spida yes motion carries thank you approval of minutes all council members we're given appr minutes of the meeting of December 11th 2023 so regular meeting uh may I have a motion to place those minutes on the floor for consideration moved moved by Mr Higgins spart Spartan I'm sorry a mon [Music] younger and is there a second second second Mr Higgins um any questions comments additions or delet deletions no call vote please council member bueri Yesa yes council member Higgins abstained council member rudo I'm sorry council president R council member Sparta yes motion carries thank you item 20 our consent agenda I will go through each of the items if anybody would like to have any it cons on the consent agenda separated I would be uh I will do so and we can vote on them separately I would like 2410 oh do I say it now certainly if You' like 2410 2411 2412 and 2413 fold please4 10 through 13 to be separated yep right anyone else if not uh resolution 24-02 designating designation of official news for 2020 24-3 appointments of special police officers uh resolution 24-4 reauthorization of petty cash funds for calendar year 2024 resolution 24-5 authorizing a contract with midex to maintain tanip vital statistic software for 2024 olution 24-6 resolution authorizing the execution of a shared service agreement between the township of Vernon and the burrow of ogdenburg for animal control 24-7 resolution of the township of Council of the township of Vernon Vernon Sussex County the state of New Jersey appointing Deputy custodians of Records resolution 24-8 authorizing the municipal tax assessor and the special Municipal attorney to defend the township before Sussex County Board of Taxation for tax appeals resolution 24-9 authorizing a memorandum of under of agreement signature Information Solutions for inquiry only access to certain Tax Collectors tax and utility records via uh Edmond's Associates 2410 will be separated 24-11 will be separated 24-12 will be separated 2413 separated resolution 24-14 resolution authorizing the execution of right of way easement with Jersey Central Power and Light for a poll NJ 1731 VR at 7 Theta Drive Vernon New Jersey resolution 24-15 authorizing the award of a contract for 2024 between A&E clothing in the township of Vernon to locate clothing donation bins at the municipal recycling center resolution 24-16 authorizing change order one of contract for proposed improvements of various streets within Vernon Township with Road Safety Systems LLC resolution 24-17 authorized the award of a required disclosure contract with special data Logic for permitting licensing software resolution 24-18 designating p meeting dates of the township Council for 2024 uh calendar Year resolution 24-19 appointment of the business administrator Tina Krauss employment contact contract I'm sorry resolution 24-20 resolution appointing riskmanagement consultant 24-21 uh establishing interest interest rates for delinquent property taxes and assessments resolution 24-22 authorizing the award of contract for Professional Services the information for each of those position is listed resolution 24-23 appointment of a municipal judge municiple Court Judge resolution 24-24 resolution of the the township of Vernon appointment appointing an alternate municipal prosecutor resolution 24-25 resolution of the township of Vernon appointing a municipal prosecutor resolution 24-26 resolution of the township of Vernon appointing a municipal Defender resolution 24-27 resolution authorizing the award of a required disclosure contract with law soft in for police records management system buer CAD software excuse me res resolution 24-28 appointing an ADA coordinator 24-29 appointment of Municipal agency compliant officer resolution 24-30 resolution of the Township Council of the township of Vernon or authorizing the award payroll Management Services and software vendor through the competitive Contracting process CC number 4-29 resolution 20-31 authorizing change order number one contract for proposed improvements of Sand Hill Road within Vernon Township ship with Denville line painting Incorporated resolution 24-32 authorizing the mayor and municipal clerk to sign an agreement the county of Sussex the attrition site premises for senior citizen resolution 24-33 resolution to adopt cash management plan 2024 resolution 24-34 a resolution renewing the group dental benefits program for eligible employees and their covered dependence through Delta Dental New Jersey incorporate resolution 24-35 adoption of a 2024 temporary Municipal budget resolution 24-36 authorizing the execution of a shared service agreement with the Vernon Township Municipal Utilities Authority for the provision of snowplowing Services as on an as needed basis resolution 24-37 continuation of the beautification committee resolution 24-38 continuation of the economic development advisory committee 24-39 n Appo appointments to the L use board that person is to be uh for as a council appoint appointment Mr Bill Higgins resolution 24-40 resolution authorizing the transfer of a firearm to a retired Vernon Township police officer resolution 24-410 authorizing signatures on Township clerks pursuant I'm sorry Township checks pursuant to njsa 4A colon 5-16 and finally resolution 4024 rather 42 a resolution appointing fund commissioner may I have a motion to approve um sorry can you also pull 2409 I missed that one I apologize 2409 n may I have a motion to make a motion to move all the resolutions for except for those that council member de benedetto wanted out thank you you have a second second seconded by Mrs de benedetto any questions or comments items just a comment please yes sir I've noticed that reading through much of the paperwork there some of the vendors we're currently using are being renewed and that makes sense you have software programs but in many cases they were asked to a price is it is it our job to ask a vendor to submit a quote when it's their responsibility to do that as normal course of business it's almost like we're saying we're favoring you to provide the service continuing and that's happened in writing on the number of cases what's the policy on that so we do request quotes from vendors we do request various quotes from vendors and then the ones that obviously the ones we're going to go with the ones that brought forth to councel so there were other people in other words there was RFP put out no an R an RFP doesn't have to go out not a like not a um formal RFP or an RFQ has to go out you can request quotes from specific vendors um there's also requirements that if it's over a certain dollar threshold there does have to be a resolution by Council even if it's on a certain Co-op um or if there's something on federal co-ops or contracts that's not necessarily a state contract might have to put it through Council for approval even though it's on like a a contracted rate so most of people are under some kind of purchasing agreement yes and a lot of like the the police software that's a that's a set you know like that software is who we who the state uses um I believe who the township is used for a very long time so that's just the standard that's used got it thank you any other questions not may have a roll call vote please yes council member bueri yes council member G benedetta yes council member Higgins yes council president Ruda yes council member Sparta yes motion carries resolution 24-9 authorizing a memorandum of agreement signature Information Solutions for inquiry only access to certain Tax Collectors tax and or utility records Byer Edmund's associate I have a motion to place that on the consideration I'll make a motion motion made by Mrs bueri is there a second second seconded by Mr Higgins uh and any questions or comments on this in discussion so I okay so what is this data used for um it's for title companies for title companies to get all the tax and utility dollar amounts so when someone closes on a mortgage or something like that they can contact UM through electronic software and get that information automatically and we give them all of our information they have access to the electronic records um obviously things are certain things are redacted um but I don't I don't know the specific laws and I don't even might have to take a moment to I apologize to put you on the on the spot um with regards to like Daniel's law and stuff I don't know how exactly that works for tax purposes when they're looking for like names and dollar amounts most of the time I believe it's just property related yeah I mean there's certain personal identifiers that would have to be redacted but other than that those records would be public but so if the if it's for title searches because title searches are done on specific properties right but they're getting all the data up front they can do searches up front yes okay all right um okay and it says protect the information do we have any due diligence on how they protect our data um I do not have that information we can reach out to these individual companies I can get some of that information for you okay yeah okay that would be interested to know since we're providing them with all of our data even though they should only need it for specific property that they're doing title searches against okay any other comments no my questions by the way sorry those are that was my question for all five so we don't have to go through all right so including resolutions 2409 you bundle them well 09 we already voted on no we could do for all right have we can do all the other roll call Vote Yes for 2409 yes9 after council member brary yes council member D benedetto no council member Higgins yes council president Ruda yes council member Sparta yes motion carries resolutions 24-10 through 24-13 May I have a motion to place them on the floor for consideration I'll make a motion move by Mrs bueri is there a second second second Bank Mr Sparta questions comments I give one quick question so Delle are these they're all different companies so signature information accurate abstract Valtech research are they all they all provide the same Services vendors that the same service yes and to be clear just to clarify it's just tax and utility information which is public record anyway so this is I'm buying a house My Title Company's doing a search and they contact us and going to gather that data when they do a title search does that answer question answers but with other STIs exact okay all right well thank you no other questions may have a roll call please council member yeah council member D benedetto no council member Higgins yes sudo yes council member Sparta yes motion that concludes our consent agenda have an introdu I want to have an introduction of an ordinance for 241 an ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a cap bank I have a motion to place this on the floor for consideration I'll make that motion motion is made by Mr thei is there a second second seconded by Mr sarta yes uh any questions or comments on this yes this is a ordinance up for discussion that would increase the bank half from 2.5 to 3.5% so this is just the introduction of the ordinance for yes from the state statute 2.5 to 3.5 so the introduction if it's killed right now then it would go no further even if if the vote is no right now correct that would be correct so why why do we need to bump it from 2.5 to 3.5 so this is to establish a cap Bank move the microphone in front of Y everyone can hear me online too the mic for over there is that's the online one um okay so this is to establish a cat Bank um for the budget so essentially what it does is the state statute says that it's um the cost of living which is currently they at 2.5 in the local Finance zones at the end of the year we can then go up to 3.5 with an ordinance that's approved by Council that 3.5% I think that there's a few things that the council should consider when you're looking at a budget in general um obviously we have certain requirements to meet a 2% um tax levy cap with conditions there's also a 2% um Appropriations cap obviously up to the 3.5 we can go that those Appropriations though include State mandated increases like pension so for example last year our pension saw an 11% increase for pfrs I believe it was a 8% increase for um the public employees retirement system it was a 21% increase for health insurance this year we are luckily because we changed we're looking at a five and a half percent increase for health insurance um which the state's looking at just over seven so it was a good thing that we changed um but again last year looked did a 21% increase on that just the general cost of uh doing B business increased um council president rudo mentioned the um the issues that everybody in the world is having right now with inflation so this establish as a bank it doesn't mean it's going to be used it doesn't mean it's all going to be used but it allows us that cushion um and most importantly if there are any emergencies within the Township in the year rather than hitting our um Appropriations cap next year we can adjust for that with this year's cap Blood Bank when be a normal discussion at budget time not at this time we usually introduce the cat Bank um ordinance at reorder the first meeting thereafter so it needs to be it needs to be adopted prior to the adoption of the budget so you have so it's got It's got to have a first and a second and then after a second it's what 21 days 20 days yeah 20 days so the timeline issue time right it also um to be clear having the cap establish affects how the budget all the calculations for the budget are done so we still we still be will be voting on the budget and it doesn't necessarily mean the budget will increase by that much but this gives us cor yeah this has nothing to do with um your tax levy at all whatsoever do did we at budget time have a surplus of approximately $9 million last budget it was less than 9 million but around that area there was a fund balance of over 8 million right and then we used over $2 million this year and that's not sufficient to have us go forward without the bank cap so again there's two different things we're talking about right we talk about revenues which is what you're mentioning for tax levy and and fund balance usage right and then there's Appropriations which are the actual expenses right right the Appropriations cap Levy helps us with things like pension with health benefits with increases in costs that we can't avoid right that is total Al separate from the tax levy cap and your taxes and the revenues that you're used to calculate the tax levy for home right but when you calculate the budget that's the time where you get your estimates on the various things like pension benefits and health insurance and that's all taken into effect this is like another stop Gap measure to give you another insurance that you did it right at budget time is that it um well what it does is it allows it allows you the leeway and future years budgets too if something again catastrophic happens where we have a $100,000 expense that we weren't anticipating and we had to pass a temporary emergency appropriation that will already then be taken care of with the cat bank so it's not hitting your regular Appropriations in the next year again the Appropriations should be considered separately from the revenues obviously it creates one big budget right but there two separate um laws that regulate the caps on those I understand thank you any other questions may I have a motion is on the floor may I have a roll call yes council member bueri no council member D benedetto no council member Higgins no council president rudo yes council member Sparta yes MO does not carry thank you time we'll have the mayori appointment pres committees uh we're still collecting applications for but I will uh into the records the beautification the board of recreation Economic Development advisory committee environmental Commission Bo and Senior C for the economical Economic Development advisory committee chairman will be Peter Knight we will add the individuals under Peter knight uh at a later time the environmental commission Stephanie debano will be the chair and Ann Lawson has the leas on the land use board my myign would be John orberger last two sorry excuse me would be an Larson Jody White would be the alternate and Mar Vini as the additional uh alternate number four was an lson an lson was um she's she's going to be delaz on to the uh environmental commission I believe was the class two correct we we were getting applications on the the 11th hour so that's why we didn't put some of these in and that's that's all I have for now that's all I that I have to put into the record for now and then we will contact people to add their appointments as well thank you time um mayor did you mention to leave off the senior citizen committee or no I apologize you know what I didn't see any application next page I have your moment mayor I I don't I don't have uh I don't think I have any applications but but I I will name it uh senior citizen committee okay thank you director this time open public comment motion please I'll make that motion this bueri second uh second Mr de benedetto this portion for public comments is limited to five minutes on a topic good to see you back all in favor oh yeah oh I'm sorry all in favor you thank you obviously these days are unpredictable our country is in chaos and uh we're going through changes and I think 24 is going to be a great year but I just wanted to spread some positivity so I will continue Our Father Who Art in Heaven sacred and holy be thy name your kingdom comes your will will be done on Earth is in heaven give us this day forward our daily strength and give us and forgive us of our sins our debts as we have forgiven those and our debtors who sinned against us and don't lead us into temptation but rest rescue Us from Evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever I ask every member of the council and the community to respect and support mayor Rossi to do what he has to do to help alleviate the problems that burdens our citizens as in destroying our livelihood our way of life and our freedoms may God give him guidance fortitude and courage and making the changes needed we are Freedom loving Americans and to force change we need supp of all the people for for the people because we are Vernon strong thank you and I wish you all the best and I believe the town will support you if you support them thank you thank you there anyone else wishing to come forward hello hi my name is cathina spuk I excuse me micone the microphone we can hear you better hi my name is cathina sasek I'm a burden resident for over 30 years I want to welcome everybody to the board and to the mayor and you have my support I have just a question on clarification whom else besides Ann Larson was name to the environmental commission tonight Stephanie de answer thank you very much anyone else president Mr Higgins congratulations unless Mr Higgins I am did I say Mr Higgins I'm sorry sorry I've been called much worse St not to put too far point on it I've had this conversation with a couple of people maybe the attorney can give some advice but the agenda came out on Friday by Monday the agenda had been revised by later in the day Monday it had been revised again I don't think that's the way it's supposed to be done I think once the agenda is issued it should stay intact until the meeting and if then there's going to be changes or adjustments it should be done in the meeting I seen this Council I've seen the Board of Ed add items to the agenda I know it's not something that the president can answer because he wasn't a part of it but on Friday there was an agenda issued with a resolution 241 and that was for the appointment of a Township attorney Mr kovic by Monday morning it had Chang to just appointment of attorney Township attorney by 1:00 in the afternoon when I was on the phone with someone that called me about it it was gone so I think the only ones that can really answer it would be either Miss buer Andor the mayor there's been a lot of negativity on Facebook as the mayor had kind of indicated leading up to this and I don't want to wake up tomorrow and read a bunch of false information about what actually happened and it would be most helpful if somebody tonight could explain something give some indication of why it went from being there to being revised to being removed so we don't wake up tomorrow hearing a bunch of false information on Facebook that's all I have thank you very much certainly um thank you for your question Mr dunlope um I believe it was just a updated one time correct yes okay yes there was one change it was on the agenda well I I directed The the clerk to update the agenda on Monday um in today I contacted her today um upon discussion with Mr RI he asked me to pull that resolution we you know we discussed that Mr Ro at nine o'clock this morning it said in parentheses Township attorney having been changed from Fridays saying I did not Conta can show you my call I did not contact the clerk until later this after 11: this morning what time did I call you Marcy I was on my way home from Costco so it was clock in the afternoons when I saw it had been removed and that's when she changed it but she did not go in there and do so I'm not sure if if maybe you're I don't want to insult you Mr DLo but I did not call the clerk until after 11 this morning not suggesting you did I'm just saying that this 9 o' it said Township attorney parentheses they move Mr kovic's name and just s Township attorney by 1:00 it was gone I believe the only person who has access to that is is the clerk and she didn't know about the change until I called her this morning anyway but that was my request to change it after after talking to Mayor Rossy and coming to an agreement on unfilling that resolution on over the weekend we spoke thank you is there anyone else wishing to come forward that's a long time to sit good evening uh Peter Knight Vernon first I'd like to congratulate the newcomers to the council um each one of you I have high hopes for and there's good reason for me to say that um I want to congratulate the new mayor um I'm very pleased to have read what he wants to do and most importantly to be a communicator um there was an issue involved with the uh Township attorney issue but I was very pleased to learn and understand that there was a mutual cooperation between the mayor and the council members to u to come to a satisfactory agreement and that's that's what business and cooperation is all about so I I want to give credit to the council and to the mayor for getting off on a a great footing and I hope that will continue I know it will continue congratulations to you Mr rudo on being the new president you certainly have the experience and knowledge to guide the council this year I think that's a very important aspect aspect so uh those are my comments again I'm excited about this year and uh I want to do whatever I can do to support the council and and the mayor thank you there anyone else wishing to come forward hello congratulations every everybody my name is Sean Clarken I live in Vernon uh do we know what the agreement was about the attorney came off the agenda but nobody said what the agreement was there was no agreement he just postponed it we postponed it he asked me to pull the resolution and thank you very okay so it got postponed the only other thing I I'd like to point out at the very beginning of this the state of New Jersey requires municipalities to follow a level of communication putting ads in newspapers and posting it in the hallway here I've mentioned this before I've spoken about this subject before that level of requirements set by the state of New Jersey was set in 1972 long before the internet long before email we had phones but nothing so all I'm simply saying is rather than following the minimum set by the state of New Jersey Vernon needs to be proactive and get into you know some more technology where we're able to communicate the fact that an agenda for a meeting Monday night is only made available Friday is a little silly we have Brick Layers we have painters we have Carpenters we have a lot of citizens who live outside of the township or ver who excuse me who live in Vernon but work outside the township they don't have time to do all the research that other people may have so in in order to make participation in our local government more evenly spread out you've got to produce the agenda ahead of time and you have to use language that a carpenter a painter or a real estate agent like myself will understand we don't have time you introduce it on Friday you only have a few hours until the office closes then you've got the weekend then Monday morning obviously there's changes that are made the agenda needs to come out earlier and it needs to be in plain English so citizens like myself can easily understand it thank you very much congratulations thank anyone else wishing to come forward Joe tadrick Vernon um I came up to really thank you guys I worked the last year little bit with you Jessica maybe one meeting Bill I've known for a while unfortunately um you got a good Council uh you got a good president got a good vice president I just want to say thank you for the experience um yes it was different to mil milary say the least and it was different than Homeland Security but it was important you know even though denell and and Tina you took some of my crap sometime I tried to keep it light but I I guarantee you what I asked you in public is exactly what I said in private I never went and had a two two-phase agenda whatever I asked you I asked in private as well um it's been a great experience little different homeand security is more national International but I've lived here for 41 years so as much as some people thought I was kind of blowing this off I wasn't I took it very seriously and um Pat rudo can attest for some of the arguments that we had screaming matches that we had um besides that I was on the L use board zoning board for over 30 years and I really want to thank Kim and the people on that board for all their guidance and assistance and you have a lot of fun in that board build it's really it's an important board really is important there's a lot of stuff going on and the town is on the precipice of a lot of big big deals coming through and a lot of big stuff in town and landu sports going to be really tightly involved so congratulations to you folks if I offended you guys I I'm sorry I didn't mean to it wasn't that more than that um May Rossy congratulations um you're going to have a interesting time to say the least Marcy you've been great you have been great I know people have bragged you and there's no reason you've been you've been very helpful your whole firm and and Josh will tell you how much I ragged him about things I tried to keep mind his toes I wanted to get every penny that we were paying them I think I got more than that so you know thank you again for the plaque that was pretty cool it will go in my office I will find a place for it and uh 41 years here you know it's a lot over half my more than half my life so for sure yeah I'm an old man 70 years old and Sunday happy birthday thank you I'll check checks in the mail yeah um but again thanks you guys have been great uh just keep pushing forward man just do what you got to do do what's right do what you think is right and you could do fine Mr tadrick before you go having been on let you any money what but you work for the federal government I figured you had a hook I do I do have a hook Joe up when I'm done with this meeting I was just wanted to say that having been surfed on so many of the Committees and boards on the council and uh work with you with the land use board and you certainly have been a a guiding force people don't understand that the time spent on the use sport cumulative naturally but it also provide you with a wealth of information because many of the members of The L use sport are required by law to go to school yeah and once you be and once that that that basis of knowledge is established once that that information is made available to newer members it becomes a more effective body and we make better decisions so thank you so much V sport that a lot of people don't understand it's actually combined Board of zoning and planning right and if you know the history of zoning and planning zoning is like a court it follows New Jersey state statutes you have to follow those statutes when you're on the zoning board and the planning board was always considered the political partk the parking the lighting the colors you have a combined board so when you sit on that board you're sitting almost like in a court of law you have to follow the attorney's guidance and follow New Jersey statutes when you make decisions and people don't understand that sometimes they think it's um it's a personal decision you know you want to do something because you feel that way well you can't because there's law attached to it so it's a fun board it's an interesting board it's very important board another question I have for you Mr did you miss miss some uh rich spurl on the Landers board I think he was up I'm just asking just because I known Rich Forever I didn't okay no no problem I just okay I just didn't hear his name um but thanks you know you guys been great like I said I keep saying it um it's been fun been different tried to keep a fight EAS Jo anyone I have chesse paladini Mrs paladini yes I have a few comments to make um as far as the agenda is concerned the law requires that the agenda be published 48 hours in advance that means that Friday is certainly within 48 hours it's more than 48 hours the council however generally posts it on Thursday so that's even longer nowhere does it say that you cannot make changes to the agenda from the time you publish it in fact the law says to the extent known so if something changes you have every right to change the agenda having said that I am confused about what happened with the attorney was that postponed is that what happened if you like that the mayor asked me to pull the resolution okay all right that's all I needed to know um okay so the land use board does not go to school it takes a course that is done over the course of one day nonetheless that is a very valuable seminar this is what I really want to say now councilman higgins's question was a very good one about rfps the answer however was a little bit misleading why wouldn't you request new quotes from other vendors if you've been using the same ones year after year after year in Vernon we get stuck with the same Professionals for decades without ever putting out rfps how do we know we can't do better why don't we deserve better why do we just keep rehiring the same ones for decades and many people said the same thing to the Board of Education by the way recently and to council member de benedetto I want to thank you for voting no your questions was excellent as well I want to thank you for not just rubber stamping those contracts and expenditures and thinking on your own and thinking things through I was very pleased to see both you and Bill Higgins challenge the status quo thank you for that and that's it oh one last thing sorry there are no vacancies on the senior citizens board there are seven SP spots on that board and none of the seven expired so there need be no additional um appointment to that board because there are no vacancies uh I just wanted to say that because I looked it up when the uh matter came up thank you again thank you I have Doren Edwards M Edwards can you hear me yes we can thank you very much so this is my wish and My Hope I've seen Town Council meetings when the attorney sitting up on the dice has has been asked questions and unfortunately a lot of the time the questions go unanswered we have an attorney for a reason we have an agenda for a reason that's why I would like if everybody got the information as to what is going to be on the agenda way in advance so when our attorney comes to sit there they can't say well I'll look it up and get back to you they have a heads up if they don't know certain answers or certain things about what's coming up they need to do their due diligence I just point out one of the facts when you were talking about um uh marijuana distribution in the town you know different sites and whatnot and the people on the council actually knew more than what the attorney did so I was impressed with that with the council but I was disappointed in the attorney so what I'm saying to you folks if an attorney comes on board and he's not cutting the mustard quote unquote I hope there's an exit um that we could get somebody who really knows and can say at the meeting well this is what you need to do this is your options this is what's available to you not I'll get back because nine out of tenen times I don't know if they do but I never hear it in the next meeting so um that's my wish and My Hope going forward thank you very much thank you don't have any other hands up anyone else wishing to come forward thank you I ask for a motion to close the floor to the public I'm sorry meeting to the public I'll make that motion there's seconded by Mr Higgins motion made by Mrs bueri all in favor signify by saying I I oppose motion carries uh Mr Mayor you have any comments sir yes just just a few Qui uh Joe tajger thank you again for your service military and also thank you for service here in our community uh another thing is it's St Marcy's fault I asked to to pull the resolution so she's been wanting to get this out since not much a mistake I guess um senior citizen applications uh this I don't have paper with there but I could that would be the reason why I haven't received applications on there as for the professionals it's early to start making some change on that but I I want to get myself in there so I can really see what's going on and then make those changes as possible to our professionals so um but that's all I have and uh I just want to thank everybody for coming out tonight um I'm looking forward to to the work ahead so we have a lot of stuff going on it's exciting so thank you thank you Council thank you council president thank you that's my comments Council comments uh Mr Higgins after your no just thank thanks everybody the only other thing I forgot to say was I'd like to say that over the next three or four years try to get some improvements in the Town Sports programs get more more of the kids involved get the families involved it was a big deal 40 years ago here kind of went down and uh I think that's a growth we can all shoot for thank you nothing further for me nothing for me um just real quickly I wanted to just um give a little plug for the Viking Snowshoe race that's on Saturday January 27th at Mountain Creek I did participate in one year this year I'm going to be on the course I guess directing Snowshoe traffic um so I'm excited about that so if anybody wants to participate in that it's on Saturday January 27th um it's a great opportunity to see the mountain right up from the gondola and it's it's a beautiful view and um mayor you did ask me to remind everyone that there is coffee and cake afterwards so I reminding everyone that there's coffee and thank you thank you all for attending it's an enjoyable evening hope an informative one and again congratulations to our new mayor new council members forting around for another ter may I have a motion to adour Second favor iOS motion cared yeah that