Maya there's now 7:00 calling the regular meeting to order requirements of sun law have been met this meeting was advertised in Bron County Times on January 7 2024 electronic notice was given to the njac C5 colon 39- 1.5 we now do the Pledge of Allegiance um this is national Boy Scout Day the national Boy Scout day is February the 8th so we will do The Pledge with the thought of the scouts tonight um with us okay thank you I pledge algi to the FL of the United States of America and to the Republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible liy and justice for all we will now have a moment of silence um in this moment of silence please keep in thought the three fellen soldiers in Jordan um Sergeant William Jerome Rivers uh specialist Kennedy Landon Sanders specialist riona Alexandria mfet thank you uh roll call committee woman Berkeley president committee man Carr committee woman president committee women wri present mayor Henley present also present Township solicitor Township administrator police chief Now read a proclamation for Black History Month whereas in 1926 Dr Carter G Woodson a har a Harvard scholar established the observance of African-American history to reveal to reveal the contri the contributions achievement and involvement of African-American people in the development of our African-American democracy and whereas the history of some of some of us and the history of all of us and the history is what shapes us as a state and a nation and whereas we must acknowledge and pay attention to the general generations of individuals who struggled with adversity risked their lives for justice fought a fight that at times seemed impossible to win and continue to fight for equality and the in the American dream and whereas African-American history also engaged throughout our society as our friends and neighbors Scholars teachers business people community leaders and contributors to our Westampton quality of life and whereas the month of February gives us a chance to honor the many Heroes who are un known and unnamed who have contributed to the struggle for freedom and justice for all and whereas black history months encourages all West Hampton residents to come together reflect on our Collective p and reveal its impact on present conditions and now therefore the Westampton Township committee does hereby proclaim the month of February to be black history month thank you [Music] CL start the clap um approval for minutes January 23rd 2024 regular meeting minutes do we have a motion 13 minutes second any discussion Roll Call Berkley yes yes Wright yes mayor Henley yes motion carries 4 zero January 2023 January 23rd 2024 executive session minutes we have a motion motion second any discussion roll call Berkeley yes Mungo yes right yes mayor Henley yes motion carry score zero we will now open the meeting for public comment on agenda items only remember to state your name and address for the record reminder this is for comments fair enough we will now close for public comment all in favor I I ordinances second reading public comment and ordinance amending chapter 250 of the Township Code of West Hampton zoning do we have a motion Berkeley mid second open for public comment yes yeah uh gab bar 138 Winstead So speaking in public comment on the second reading of the ordinance 1-2 024 amending chapter 250 uh I'm in favor of the ordinance um I urge you to uh vote Yes in passing it and I want to thank you for all of the hard work Bob and Wendy um mayor I think you did a great job in shepherding this ordinance through uh you had us keep an open mind and you actually viewed all of the residents as real Partners in this so well done in my opinion so again I urge you all to vote in favor of it thank you thank you mayor if I can just make a short comment I just wanted to thank Gary for his assistance with this too he provided suggestions on some of the text for it that was very helpful thank you Gary roll call Berkeley yes yes Wright yes mayor Henley yes motion carries 4 z um 2 d224 an ordinance of the Westampton Township to fix salaries wages and compensation of certain officials and employees of the township for the years of 2024 2025 I want to I would ask for a vote to amend to add positions of this as far as Deputy tax collector um and to also get I would ask for a motion in a second to adjourn to public hearing until February 20th as amended so this goes back to First reading tonight mayor well what we're doing is we're going to move it so it's not going to be any we're not going to vote at all on it tonight we're going to move it to the meeting of the 20th so that we're able to amend and add the position of Deputy tax tax collector thank you do we have a motion I have a motion to add Deputy tax collector and salary to this uh salary ordance and we're pushing it to February the 20th and push the second second February perfect a second roll call Berkeley yes yes right yes mayor Henley yes motion carries 4 Z resolution 34-24 payment of vouchers this resolution approves the payment of bills through February 6th 2024 do we have a motion motion second any discussion roll call Berkeley yes yes Wright yes mayor Henley yes motion carries 4 Z consent agenda resolution consent agenda items are considered to be routined and will be enacted with one single motion any items requiring expenditure are supported by a certification of availability of funds any items requiring discussion will be removed from the cons an agenda do we have a motion motion second any discussion I have a question mayor sure it seems like our Public Works are the people doing all the work we switched machines with each other but we still are doing all the work we do the work here and we do the work in West panon when we send our machine over there uh I don't understand why if we're giving a machine to West East Hampton why their Public Works can't do their roads why we have to do that and use our people for it the other thing is we used to have a street sweeper uh but it wasn't being used and it didn't seem to be needed to be used so Parker traded that in for a type of lawn mower that we needed and so do we really need a sweep stre sweep Street sorry street sweeper that we're proposing don't we have a didn't we have a street street sweep now you got me a street sweeper recently that we just used that people just commented that it was great no so we're giving East tampon no they're giving us the sweets net and what are we giving they're G I'm not going to you're going to mess me up again I can't sorry just say sweep they're giving them the sweep sweeper sweeper right they're giving us a lawn a a something about the to mow the sides of the roof isn't it the shareed service so we're sharing it with them right no we give them something and they give us something but what they're giving us and we used to have it wasn't being used so Parker sold it for something else but also we're not sharing people in both of the ordinances we use our guys for the um the lawnmower on the streets and there we are using their our guys for their street sweeper so why can't each Town use their own people I can answer that go ahead so for our equipment to go to eastampton we are in control of how that equipment is being used therefore we can control the damages that might occur to the equipment for them to give us equipment coming into our Township we're going to use our people so that we limit the liability of any one from eastampton getting hurt in Westampton still seems like we're getting the raw end of the deal what's the equipment that we're allowing eastampton to use the reason he say this the sweeper right yeah I have the agreement right here it's the West Hampton um I don't have my glasses though section 1B it says Westampton Township will Street sweep East Hampton Township's public roads three times per year on a five on a 5-day cycle so it's the Westampton Township employees and street sweeper will be going to East Hampton um West Hamp part A of that same section is Westampton Township we utilize East Hampton Township's roadside mowing apparatus during the months of April to September for 3 Days of usage per month so um West we're getting the use of a roadside mower where uh we're sweeping their streets now and that is what we got rid of because we didn't need a roadside mower when Parker got rid of it and used the money to buy something we needed I'm not familiar with that it was before your time not that committee woman Berkeley brought that up but food for thought is this and we're street sweeping who's paying the employee that's street sweeping we're paying them it yeah it's our employees yes I think this is something we should talk about because inevitably we're going to pay our guy to sweep there I'm not saying that they should use our sweet street sweeper because it's it's valuable and again I'm just one person and I'm just kind of thinking it through I'm not saying that that's the issue I'm saying that in a shared service we do share services and we pay those and we pay those people and we pay those townships like when we have to Shar service with the tax collector we pay or the tax our tax person we pay each if we're going to send our person over there and we're going to pay them at the minimum I feel like they should pay especially if it's our streets cheer and we're going to still pay that same person to cut the grass over you see what I'm saying um does anybody have a problem with tabling this and trying to see what we can work out I mean I think it deserves a second conversation I'd like to make a motion to table this for more discussion one second all in favor I don't talk long I forgot where I'm at uh open the meeting for public comment please remember to state your name and address for the record reminder this is for common own so good evening again Garing 138 Winstead so on the agenda we're at 12 open meeting for public comment uh first I just want to say thank you Wendy um good job with the Pledge of Allegiance I know we've been uh sort of initializing a new custom with that so well done on that and also mayor uh I do appreciate uh the moment of silence acknowledging our fallen soldiers so thank you it does help remind us about how connected we are as a fabric of society and our democracy does need people to uh to serve it so thank you for doing that um I'll try to be brief I know only have a few minutes just three items real quick the first is I thought actually kind of important so that's why I'm bringing it up um back in I want to say maybe November or so some of you may have gotten a correspondence in the Township from this company called American Water Resources it was sent a believe to homeowners and it's uh regarding water service line insurance does this look familiar to anyone this letter now we're service where we live over by the Willingboro mua so maybe it was just sent to folks that have the Willingboro mua so if you're not familiar what this water service line is is that um you know if there's some damage to the to the sewage line that goes to your house you're responsible for it and so your homeowners insur ins may or may not cover that damage and it can be quite substantial for the repair so there's companies that you know obviously offer insurance coverage for that so I was a little bit curious about this so I did actually contact the Willingboro mua and I asked them specifically if the utility had their own insurance they said no they don't but interestingly enough um the information I got back is that they actually recommend a insurance company called uh service line warranties of America which is a completely different company than this and so I asked them to send me over uh that sort of application or packet so I got a PDF uh of that insurance policy the the issue I believe for the township is that well number one um I don't know if Mount Holly offers the same thing for other you know subscribers in the township so you may want to double check number two um I think the the Willing bro MUA sit's kind of wonky so they don't have a lot of information on there so if you don't really go out of your way to contact them you really don't even know that there's a company that they quote recommend the other part of this where I think maybe our Township can get involved is that um the information provided by the insurance company that willing bro has recommended is very willing bro specific so I don't know if that's just an oversight and they kind of mean to include Westampton um the reason why why I say that is because I'm sort of suspicious that perhaps they negotiate at some sort of rate for the Willingboro residents and maybe we were included in that or maybe not so if we're not maybe we should be so number one maybe we can double check on that number two um maybe there's other insurance carriers that we can engage if you want to recommend them maybe that helps or maybe you find a different insurance carrier that the township has done business that's very reputable that you trust and maybe you can recommend the residents that that's a carrier that we could maybe contract with that provide this insurance what I'm getting at is ultimately seeing what's the economy of scale that we can get when we do that right we're looking at you know sort of coverage now it's not super expensive I don't want to quote prices here but I guess residents should number one check with their homeowners insurance I did my homeowners insurance does not provide it so there's any kind of problem with that water service line that's coming out of my pocket so it may not be a bad idea to to possibly look into something like this so um I did print out uh the information a little bit I can share that maybe when you can make a copy or something uh so hopefully you're tracking what I'm saying on that right okay good um the second thing is if I still have time is I do want to talk about an existing ordinance um and I did share a little bit with Wendy here but it's an existing ordinance it's existing ordinance 232-14 subsection E I don't know if you want to pull it up but it has to do with Ikea drive and it has to do specifically subsection e is the signage that's tied to Ikea drive now interestingly enough if you read the ordinance it says that the signage has to comport with the current manual on um it's the muu HT I guess I wrote it down uh manual on uniform traffic control devices well I didn't know this but apparently there's a brand new one that was published in December it's Edition number 11 so that ordinance says that the signage has to comport with the quote current manual so if this is the current manual my question is and I don't know how this would work what do we do do we run around looking at every sign and saying oh my God you know the the manual from 2009 is was in effect and now the new manual is in effect and therefore it's changed the sort of the requirements for the signage and do we have to change every single signage number two is that um their sign posting at that intersection with Springside and Ikea the problem is is that that signage does not comport with any other quote signage that's termed a guide sign I read this manual not all of it chapter or part two of the manual is 26 pages long about signs I mean it's Shakespeare or it'll cure your insomnia either one right in our Township our signage that are guide signs are white on green the white is specific because it's reflective that sign is green on white and it's non-reflective so it's more of an aesthetic design I believe for the sign that meets the requirements for uh I guess when they submitted their application to Land Development board Etc so I guess my question is can we get an expert and I'm not sure who would enforce this now there is an enforcement mechanism in this ordinance so I'm guessing it's the township that enforces it I don't know if it's public works I don't know if it's code I don't know if it's the construction official so maybe we can find out which one of those has that responsibility to take a look at that sign and see if it does meet the requirements now that presupposes that that manual supersedes the already approved signage that they got from whenever they sought the approval in the first instance does that make sense Bob so if that's the case then they're going to have to replace that sign in my opinion but I don't know I'm not an expert on it all I know is that it's non-reflective I drove by deliberately tonight at the time it were super dark and I didn't believe it was reflective and not only that the font is different it's smaller you can hardly see it and I think it's a safety issue because I was sharing with Wendy that when I get behind some of these tractor trailers it's very confusing because there's another sign that says Ikea Drive next turn but just a few yards from the next term is actually the entrance to Springside which is the prime Point Road so I think these truckers are slowing down because they're not exactly sure where Ikea Drive is which is weird but you can't see the sign for Ikea drive so I don't know if it's just you know me every time I'm out there I'm happen to be behind one of these trucks and this is happening um so I think there is a safety issue there as well so that was number uh number two do I have any more time or am I out I'm timed down you're good go ahead okay so just real quick so I noticed um at Springside and Wood Lane across from the uh from the the Wawa there's that abandoned um I guess it was a Getty station and I noticed I noticed there was heavy machinery that was Excavating specifically on that site where the gas pumps were I don't know what they were doing but when they're Excavating that kind of property that possibly has underground storage Banks do they have to get a permit do we know that do they have to file a permit with the township to say that they're digging um and I guess I'm just wondering I think they do okay Rob it it depends on how much uh soil they're disturbing um I don't know what the square footage is exactly but there's a certain amount of square footage that's if once Disturbed or certain percentage of the lot that's what triggers that they would either have that have to apply for permitting and any other approvals necessary for it um also given that if there is an underground storage tank there or it's a former fuel site there may be D DP permanent requirements as well because directly across the street is another sort of service station which there's no uh active service station there are Vehicles looks like it's some sort of repair shop but it's specifically posted that there is a current quote active ongoing New Jersey D investigation um do we have an update on that like where they are at with that investigation it'd be nice to know um if there's any concerns you know just for the residents in in the neighborhood there so uh with that thank you very much thank you so mayor if I can just address the last point if I remember right generally on those signs and say that there's active investigation it usually has a number on it and uh the ability to contact either EPA or D whoever's over seeing it okay there there was telephone number you look like me walking a little slow so Robert Thorp 222 Olive Street rankokus New Jersey um I had no idea you were uh going to table that shared service agreement um but I want to say thanks um shared service Agreements are obviously a good thing in most instances but I'm sitting running figures through my head and if you're just trading equipment seems like a trade for a trade but for us to provide which I think was a man three times for five days that's 15 that's almost a month of Labor coming out of our budget please look at it seriously uh that seems quite excessive um and I don't know I don't know the facts I'm leaving it to you on this one um you know equipment equipment seems to be a trade uh 15 days of Manpower and the fact that people always forget it's not just salary it's benefits um which is an enormous amount of money we pay U which I believe in um but we should be careful thank you thank you thank you just leave it there we'll take care of it just a little stiff notice I say we cuz I don't know that I can get down there so I no one else all in favor to close hi hi dates to remember next Township meeting is February 20th at 7 p.m. historic commission is February 28th at 700 p.m. Land Development board meeting at February 7th Fe meeting February 7th at 7:00 p.m. Recreation committee meeting is February the 14th at 7:00 p.m. and then the free rabies clinic remember is on February 17th from 9: to 11: administrative report I just wanted to report that I have been working on the municipal budget for 2024 and we are tracking to have the first Workshop be the first meeting in March so we will have two workshops in March and then we plan to introduce the budget in the first meeting in April than good any uh committee leaon reports or comments yes um there's a good point about underground things I saw my own homeowners insurance covers anything underground any kind of wires gas electric um sear water uh for $25 a year so it depends on the insurance company uh but I I did hear for the WM way that they would offer something and I think it's a good thing you never know when a push is going to grow into a sewer line or something like that and I had to do my sewer line mon when Bush grew into it and it was $3,000 and that was 20 years ago so I can imagine it's five or $6,000 for just my little private little property so that's a very good thing thank you for sharing that um the historical preservation committee met last last week uh the chair was elected as Bob Thor congratulations Bob Vice chair was Brian Jansen and the secretary Nancy B um we talked about getting the word out to Grant this residents about the historical um committee and the requirements and we talked about how to work with the uh construction official for those who don't comply what we can do about that one of the things we're talking about is we realize we can't go through and change all of the ordinances what we wanted to do a few years ago but we'll talk about the next meeting if there's anything we just think is really needed to be changed uh Bob I'm going to invite you is there anything else you would like to put in I know it's not public comment but you're the chair okay thank um RV I'm very happy to announce the RV Red O Red Oak yearbook sta on first place in American Scholastic press uh press Association yearbook cont that's for the whole country they also won first place Gold Award in the Garden State Scholastic press Association yearbook contest so their yearbook Club needs a lot of accommodations um thank you very much no comments um thanks for everyone who came out thank you for your comments and suggestions uh the pledge of legance I have to give the credit to our American Legion they uh reached out to me wanted to make sure that we mention that um not the pl leg I apologize Our Moment of Silence from the American Legion um to make sure that we that we mention that they apologize they weren't able to be here but wanted to make sure that West Hampton recognized you know the fallen soldier so thank you for your comment to make sure I wanted to make sure that I that I put that back out there um that being said we're going to go to Executive session resolution number 26 2024 resolution authorizing the township committee and supportive staff to meet in private session and authorizing the exclusion of the public from that portion of the meeting dealing with specific issues requiring nonpublic uh discussion attorney client privilege and pending litigation and what else I say and Personnel uh motion motion second uh second Berkeley discussion roll call Berkeley yes yes right yeah mayor Henley yes motion carries 4 Z got a s