##VIDEO ID:rxiDWKAl64Q## [Music] okay J Sandy I'm recusing myself from the the repairs to C CU I know yeah that would be why I'll just say just remove it and then you know what I'm saying I can't I just recuse then you're going to recuse from at all it's in the oh okay okay hello good evening uh now 7:01 requirements of the sign Sun law have been met this meeting was advertised in the Burton County Times on January 7th 2024 electronic notice was given to the njac 5 39- 1.5 we will now start with the pleasant Legion I pleas leg to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic which stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all we will now have a moment of silence R call committee woman Berkeley present committee Carr pres committee woman Mungo committee woman right mayor Henley present also present Township solicitor Township administrator clerk assistant Township administrator Police Chief Fire EMS Chief approval of minutes July 9th 2024 regular meeting minutes do we have a motion so move do we have a second second any discussion yes uh in the minutes when uh the mayor was talking about the um trash collection that we were going to consider he talked a lot about the pros and cons and he talked about that what we're doing now uh was more expensive than the arm and things and I realized the information that we got from the administrator said to the contrary and I read those numbers and I'm sorry didn't mean to criticize but I had to put out the right information and the minutes completely ignored what I said it just said Miss Berkeley was concerned with the cost of collection that were present in this committee and I had read them and to prove that the lowest that we had was for what we were doing now and even Karen Thompson noticed that because she said uh about the proposals since the committee doesn't seem that they are on the same page with the numbers so I don't know why what I say is constantly changed and ignored but I'm getting tired of it thank you does anyone have any than about the minutes Jam you ready yes uh we're so what we're doing is we're vote we already did the motion we're voting on the minutes for yes just making a note committee woman is here presid pres so committee woman berley what what did did you want us to change or is there a suggestion this I want to change I'm just going to vote now well that's not true Roa Berkeley no Carr yes mayor Henley yes yes motion passes 30 July 9th 2024 executive session minutes do we have a motion 3 31 sorry thank you do we have a motion Mo make a motion for the executive session minutes any discussion roll call Berkeley yes clar yes mayor Henley yes Mungo yes motion passes 4 Z Department reports we have construction Fire EMS police Public Works and the courts we will now open to public comment on agenda items only please remember to state your name and address for the record reminder this is for common only Anthony GS 109 West Maple Tree Drive uh in regard to resolution 10624 it's unclear whether are we sticking with the same style where we're using our current bins or is it the new bins and why may it pick up I I couldn't tell from the ordinance also if we're not doing the automated I think the Bond was to purchased so I guess that money just rolls back into the bond unused correct okay thank you and I'll answer the question afterwards I prom yeah with no other comments sorry Chris Chris Hamilton 16 St Andrew's Court um I have a quite a bit of problems with uh resolution 11424 um in reading it um we are agreeing to hire laborers from another Union that's not the union that is represents our DPW workers now correct um and in here we're saying the laborers are referred by the union so we're not betting these people at all that coming from the union but what's more disturbing about this is both parties acknowledge that the number of workers required and the length of time for which they may be required is indefinite that's said twice that it's indefinite that's a blank check I don't know how we can write a blank check the terms that we're agreeing to are from a contract that was negotiated by the local 172 and construction contractors so we're agreeing to a contract that we had no part in negotiating also one of the paragraphs and this may just be an oversight here but superintendent of the Department of Public Works or the designate of the township may direct how many employees how many attempts we come bring in then in the same paragraph superintendent or his designes so who is it that actually gets to decide when we bring in these employees and then finally to add to the blank check this never expires unless I assume unless there's a vote but it rolls over if there's no vote which seems to me it's a way of hiding this agreement and allowing it to pass and allowing us to issue that blank check for an infinite amount of time this just seems like horrible stewardship of this town's money thank you when no other public comments all in favor to close yes dates to wrong page ordinances um second reading open for public comment 10-24 an ordinance of Toc Westampton amending the West Hampton code chapter 209 entitled storm water control do we have a motion motion um second it's open for public comment so mayor if I can make some comments certainly um so when this was first uh proposed on first reading um first of all there were some omissions in in the taxt that was provided specific specifically in article 10 the tree ordinance uh which will necessitate some amendments by the council in order to reintroduce uh there was also some questions concerns that are raised by Miss Berkeley uh and I have answers for those hold on one second Bob can you can everyone hear them all right yeah here we go I'm sorry so first of all there were some omissions with the proposed ordinance uh there was blanks in the tree ordinance regarding fees and uh um as well as the list of approved species of trees uh so there's some we've obtained some recommendations by our planner and the Landscape Architects that work with CME uh and prepare to present those to the committee tonight to amend the ordinance reintroduce it and then hold a public uh public hearing and adoption at the next meeting um before that I wanted to address some questions that were raised by Miss Berkeley uh specifically she questioned whether this was this ordinance was required by the D um subsequent Communications there was the FAQ where uh it appears to say that storm water management rules only apply to Major developments that's those FAQs were addressing the storm water management rules under njac 7 colon 8 uh those are more in the development of properties as opposed to to Property Maintenance and Soil Conservation uh the this ordinance uh article 10 with the tree ordinance as as well as the pet waste wildlife feeding litter control all those are required under the Township's ms4 permitting um which is covered under njac C7 col 14-a and it is required the substance of the ordinance uh is the this is consistent with the model ordinance and the model ordinance are the minimums there are a few things which the township does uh have the ability to um have some discretion in and those are specifically the things that we've receive um recommendations from the landscape architect for the township uh Miss Berkeley also asked how it is applicable to the residents in with some concerns with it being onerous I'd like to point out some exemptions uh that are under Section 20946 first is that any residential property can remove up to four trees per acre every 5 years without being required to get a permit and approval for that only applies to trees that are less than 33 in in diameter uh any tree that's greater than 33 in diameter would need an approval unless it falls under another exemption the other key exemption is exemption G which is hazardous trees uh and hazardous trees are defined under the ordinance quite broadly to include any tree that is in uh has an infection or disease or infest insect infestation is dead or dying obstruct the view of traffic signs free passage of pedestrians or Vehicles where in attempts have not been effective causing obvious damage to structures such as buildings foundations sidewalks Etc is determined to be a threat to public health safety and or Welfare by certified arist or licensed tree tree expert um one of the key provisions of the exemption and the discretion that's up to the committee is how the exemptions are approved uh the or the model ordinance allows a heightened standard where somebody seeking an exemption would have to have an opinion of a licens tree expert and arborist uh What uh we recommend is a lower standard where an exemption can be proven simply by submitting a narrative and pictures um the last part that was blank uh was a list of permitted trees um what the Landscape Architects with CME have recommended is a list of prohibitive species which are non-native species and they've provided that in in a draft um the other amendment that would be necessary is what the fee for the application is um eastampton specifically has a uh an application fee of $50 to $75 I think that is consistent with with other towns in the area um so that would be my recommendation to adopt a fee of $50 to $75 that's all I had so if I have a rotten tree I take a picture I send it in and I have to give you $75 to be able to take it down you're exempt from that I believe that's not what he said you're exempt I'm asking oh so I'm sorry I didn't if you have a rotten tree if I have a tree that you said take a picture of it instead of getting an Orban is saying that it's a hazardous tree take a picture I give it to you do I have to pay $50 to $75 no my understanding is now that the an exemption would not be you would have to file an application for that as long as it's a residential property and it's for you've not removed more than four trees in a 5year period per acre of land what about the fa frequently asked questions that I sent you that said uh single family homes on single family lots are not applicable so that was related to the storm water management um under njac 7 colon 8 that is the ordinance that was adopted two meetings ago uh and it only applies to Major developments and it's really applies to just new new construction uh and not to single family lots it's subdivision and Soil Conservation efforts through that these ordinance are governed under a different section of the administrative code and um there's a separate FAQs it's a bit confusing because they call them storm water management ordinances all over the place and um that that aqs that you found I don't think were very clear who in the township is going to come out and check someone's tree to say it's okay to cut it down I I don't know that that's that be the administration um would come up with who would fall into the resp responsibility proper I think would be proper for property maintenance or um Construction office well I understand not happy but I am not in in I do not want to have people pay $50 to $75 to chop down a tree because they want to put a shed in the place I just don't think that's right we pay enough taxes I'm not looking forward to my tax bill coming out that's a lot of money for someone to come by drive by my house and say yeah you can take it down question did we you said that they can cut down four to five trees without any feed in the 5year Rus correct correct per acre free free so I think that one of the things that it's right like one of the things you hear people say all the time when you're throwing away paper is that we want to kind of protect our trees so if someone's going to cut down five trees that don't have any illness in more than five years I think that that deserves to somebody to come check and see what's going on because we don't want to just kill trees to kill trees I just don't like that amount of money so fair enough and also it's not every tree um it is trees that have a dbh um I forget what that stands for but it's the diameter of the tree at four 4 to 4 and 1/2 ft high if it's a Street tree then it's 2 and 12 Ines which is about the width of your cell phone uh if it's a tree that is not at the street then it's 6 in which is about the length of your cell phone so this is only mature healthy trees uh smaller trees brush those are things that could can be caught down without a per any kind of Permitting okay thank you and I will say if I may open common anyway but in Spring Meadows there were a lot of people in the beginning had trees in the front of their house and those tree roots grew toward the house so now you see most of those trees are gone that's also something that we would not charge for it's a danger to the property right um so I think there just there's a lot of ways that this can be managed and I do agree with you that we have to make sure that our Administration wants to make sure that the person who's managing it that we do go out and we do take a look at the trees and make sure that that the trees that someone's cutting down is is the right way to do it but I don't I don't know that I've seen that much change like we have some pretty large beautiful trees that took some time to grow and in fact you know very well that when we went to the Village over there in PNG was cutting down trees there was a bunch of people who fought to save the trees right um so I think it's just about us being responsible um and in our Administration being respons that's just my two SS does anyone in the public have anything that they like to say Mr Harper some of the trees in my I've been living here for 50 years I'm telling you right now to your face I'm cutting some of down whoever came up with this first of all need to mind your own business how I feel the government of this country whether the state local the president I don't care about none of that you know you always telling somebody else how to run the freaking V and the thing that get me is the people that make sit down to make these laws up excuse me ain't got a pot P throw it out but then they still want to come now and tell somebody else what to do and you go around and look at my house Sun trees 100 ft and I'm telling you now I'm cing away from my house before a hurricane comes and tears my house up so you do what you got to do but I'm going to do what I got to do and I'm not directing it you I know who made this law the state did DP yeah here we go we got some little clerk somewhere sitting up there in this crummy little office ain't got nothing else better to do than come around screwing with people so Mr har I would ask us would you cut down more than five trees listen I have no idea just question maybe yes I ain't turn my house up tell you that and I think that that's the law prevents it's not going to let you if it's a danger to your home you're more than welcome to because I'm just I'm just sick and tired of the government whether it's state local or federal comeing around telling people what to do all the time with their own stuff I mean I can see if you was out there throwing five in the street Common Sense tell you you can't do that but you know is this getting to be overb people got jobs they got kids they got to take care of it's we got more important things to do than sit and worry about some stupid ordinance about some trees man you know it's just crazy now you may think I'm crazy but I'm just telling you how I feel you know I'm going to call you crazy well I don't know what y'all might think but I'm just telling you you don't know what I think I'm just telling you how I feel all see because I don't like it one little bit somebody I moved in that house around there just let me tell you this Ronald Reagan was the president of this country and I was paying 16% interest on my house I refinanced that house three times it's paid off it's been paid off now a long time I went through H ain't nobody come around and give me nothing that but yet still these comy little politicians can send some letter to your house telling what you telling you what you got to do with your property and they ain't put a DME there I mean I understand you can't break the laws some of these laws they come out with with just playing ridiculous man I mean I can see in the development you don't want but it it just ain't it just ain't right as far and as far as I'm concerned this country is going to the dark man it just it's too many stupid rules you know what are you going to do but I'm just saying to you when you see me cutting better send the F man around there because I ain't time my house my house and you know I was living here before any yall was probably even born and that's another thing then no offense to you all yall young people come out I know things change but sometimes it just seem like you ain't got no respect for nobody else just do what they want to do every day it's the same thing just do what they want to do tell people tell women how to take care of the healthcare they can't do that right then you're going to come around with some stupid stuff like trees I mean it's just one thing to the to the next where's it going to stop I'm not pointing you out as an individual I'm talking about the government in this freaking country and I don't care that the Republicans and Democrats they are so cuz they ain't here to protect nobody man it's just another gimmick to make money from somebody and that's the way I see it if there another gimmick so state to make some money off of some innocent people so I understand what I had to say keep you KN this out I I see you Mr Harper you got to come to the mic it's like Garing 138 Winstead so I actually haven't read the tree or in it's one of the few orces that I haven't read so um I guess my my comment is for those of you that are more expert on it is there any kind of um sort of intersection of that ordinance with the psng vegetation management program cuz I do think that that's important because you know you can have psng come out there through their contractor and basically you know if a tree it's on your land but it crosses the threshold over and interacts with the power lines they're going to make the cuts so potentially and you've seen the way they cut those trees sometimes right so at some point it might make sense just to Timber the whole tree so I don't know does the ordinance have anything that says that the cost can be shared by psng and the homeowner if it makes better sense to instead of sort of pruning the tree to just Timber it do we know what we talking about the village no I'm talking about just anywhere in the township where there's power lines and there's branches that might potentially impact the power lines no and from our last situation over there PS do you want to elaborate you were there miss Berkeley it wasn't pscg I'm talking about the village right yeah cut them to the ground it was another tree service but PS told us that they only cut 10 ft from the wires except a tree is 30 ft High and the wires are pretty high they only cut back 10 ft so there's no need to cut the whole tree down but I've seen that some of the branches are really you know it's very asymmetrical after they're done with their cuts and I I'm saying for one or two branches that they don't touch you really have an asymmetrical tree and it just may make better sense aesthetically just to just Timber the whole trade versus I don't disagree but I PSC and doesn't really do that in fact I believe not to down psng at all but they they have a what people might say is a history where they just cut the tree and then they'll just they'll cut the tree and just leave it how it is like they won't room it they won't do anything and what's tough is like uh it's not our immediate neighborhoods but some you know some areas they have trees that are grown on the sidewalk right and then those trees are really Township property so then you kind of leave it up to there's some townships that have people who call continuously once PS and does that because they want you to now come out and fix the tree which you know causes an issue in itself so from what I've seen and from neighboring areas PSG will cut what committee woman Berkeley said just the minimum amount and leave it they're unrelated the two the d and n psng i I have a different opinion but u i I hear what you're saying my my comment on that is that it's trees that are on residents land for example in my development a budding Springside those branches have been pruned when you look at the tree the shap shape of the tree is now very asymmetrical in some instances you know there might only be three or four viable branches left and what I'm saying at that point is well you know kind of may make better sense just to Timber the whole trade now who has to bear the cost of that it's kind of then sort of dumped back onto the homeowner at that point I'm just saying we all want proper vegetation management we want conservation I'm just wondering does the ordinance speak to potentially shifting some of the cost to you know that sort of environment where they're interacting for that purpose for vegetation management I don't know I haven't read the ordinance so that's what I'm just asking so the position what we ran into in ranok Village when they trimmed those trees and seemed somewhat excessive the position they took is that they were not subject to the township uh regulation because they're regulated by the PPU and the purpose of their trimming was to protect the wires um and that's a pretty solid position that PNG is taken with that uh but they also have listened to constituent concerns in the past uh in other areas and it's something that we can that the township the mayor can address with PNG basically asked nicely this ordinance couldn't regulate them doing that well maybe an alternative because ncy kind of brought it up is the cost mitigation if that is the factor causing a homeowner to want a Timber a tree because they set that into motion maybe the township could appreciate that and possibly offer some sort of a discount on the permitting cost the fees Etc I'm just trying to come up with a solution here just to be fair to everybody um and then I got okay uh and just the other issue regarding the tree so when communties like P where I'm deep restricted right so the Deep restriction runs with the land and actually imposes a duty on the homeowners to quote maintain the trees Etc right so I guess my question is what's going to uh suede here the deed restrictions in the development or the ordinance so what do we do in that situation we want to how let me ask you a question if you know your Mar how many trees do you have um on your property on my land um I have four so you could never reach five I'm sorry I had two trees like you know what I'm saying I had a Tre in the front a tree on the side so for most people the people who have real concern when I look at this is like people who live in our Woods because they have a bunch of trees right like they're the ones that are really a concern but for tfield for Spring Meadows we don't really have a bunch of trees like we'll never reach I don't we'll never reach five trees so for us it doesn't really apply for the people who would apply for yes like IR Woods right they get I mean but still to cut five trees in five years is a lot but somebody might do it right like don't put it on the record making the observation just so everybody has an opportunity to you know engage in good neighborliness be peaceful and dearwood I hear from dearwood an issue right so that's say in deerwoods you got no trees you got three two trees on your property you do on the agenda is on the [Music] agenda uh assuming that there's going to be an amendment tonight and reintroduced um you could get a copy c will be available through the clerk's office by Friday okay question is trees like I H over top you yes to the house I'm just asking question that's okay I my feels are strong Mr har Bob this isn't going to be ready by Friday if he comes on Friday and WIS a copy yeah it'll be ready with the changes correct yes that we have an approve yes assuming there's Amendment tonight then I will we already have the recommendations of the um uh the planner are already in a draft document if there's any changes to that they were just given to us today and those are the ones that I I stated um I can make those changes tomorrow the clerk can clerk's office can finalize them have it ready by Friday I didn't see it on my Dropbox was it on there no it was it was not we got them I I forget when this it was late this morning and then they were reviewed by other staff so we're so the changes are we're approving it basically by title tonight we're going to reintroduce it we're not reintroducing the sections that from what was introduced before that would require Amendment are section 29-45 for the fee two oh okay two 20945 for the fee 20946 which is exemptions and how they're Pro how exemptions are approved and then appendix a which would be a list of prohibited species instead of a list of required species and what is the fee that's for the the council the committee to make a a an amendment of what the fee is uh neighboring towns East Hampton has $50 to $75 so we're going to discuss that now and make that correct decision okay and then you'd have to propose somebody would have to make a motion to amend uh I would ask that we make it 50 bucks it depends on what everybody else want someone else want to do 800 or what 25 20 that's not an option Okay so 222 Olive Street ran cookus um so listen to Mr Harper and a whole lot of things um you know I had massive trees on my my property so I'm not quite sure I don't quite understand where the fee comes into play as in you mentioned a 33in diameter tree um is it at that point the fee goes into play or are you talking about at 36 uh what is the fee and why so the fee is the for the township to Pro process the paperwork approve revie review it um maybe go out there and look at at the uh the tree make sure that the width is what it says it is um and to determine what replacement would be necessary and essentially this only applies to healthy trees healthy trees that are not risking any of the structures on your property um so if it's damaging sidewalk if it's damaging your uh your foundation that would be a hazardous tree that could be removed would not have to be replaced if you have a healthy tree that you want to remove to build a addition on your house that is more than 2 and 12 in more than 6 in in diameter at 4T High you need to replace that with a comparable tree uh and that's not replacing it with there's a chart actually that's in the ordinance of what the replacement tree would have to be um I forget if it's is that after the four free ones for every tree n one no you're that would be after the four four free ones okay so you can cut down four trees you cut down a fifth one you have to replace it okay in 5 years period so for healthy treat Health damage to your house or property so um what I'd like to see is the minimum okay as in whatever we're required to do by the state of New Jersey and that's it and that's what this everything else should be stripped out of this thing um and as for fees we pay too much in taxes now we do okay yes we do okay we may have a decent tax rate we're still paying too much in taxes and this is another fee on top okay so make it a $5 fee okay we're already paying everybody in this building okay we're expecting them to do their jobs okay now you're laying on something on to us $50 doesn't need to be 50 bucks okay make it less okay I don't care about any stamping okay means nothing to me okay I'm just tired of being nickel and dimed Y um and I would like to see it much more reasonable so I think $50 is too high thanks move to West then we don't charge you to cut down trees smithen smithart out the way not really that 36 St Andrews Court Westampton okay I do have one question do you have to hire somebody that is a tree expert to know what's a healthy tree and what's not a healthy tree good question that's not a the amendment was to possibly get rid of that and just have a picture what just to prove that it's a not healthy tree we make that decision though this public works I mean who's going to be uh the tree police that's what I want to know I think that's administrative think about Char somebody money I think you better have somebody it's an expert and I don't think we should have to have an expert on the Tre to tell you the truth that's all I have to say for right now I do have something else to say I mean it's I mean it's obviously up to the committee I I think that so few residents would have to pay a fee for this to begin with I don't see it impacting many residents at all um as far as a healthy tree um and five trees per five trees every five years per acre I just I don't I don't know that a fee matters one way or another you put $50 on it it's for how many residents in how many years are we charging $50 I don't see it being an impact for many residents at all so so does that scale so if someone has a quarter acre lot are they Limited in the trees I did not see any guidance on that um and in frequently asked questions it just routinely referenced four trees per acre for 5 years so I I think it could be interpreted for any single family home as the four trees I mean Anthony GS 109 West Maple Tree I I mean Mr Thor recommended $5 Nothing Stops the committee from re-evaluating waiting in a year or two years and say well it's Closter Department too much the money's not working out let's freeze it it's a different story to come out with 50 or 75 and that money sitting there you're not going to want to decrease It Go small bring it up if the numbers and everything why it what's the the numbers between 50 and 75 right that's just a suggestion based on other towns it it's there's nothing in the model ordinance nothing in in the state statutes that sets the fee that's totally up to the discretion of the Town Chris when you talked to East Anon did you just look at their their ordinance or did you speak with someone over there okay and I I can only speak on you stamped on my parents live in a wooded lot in Smithville near Smithville and I mean when there's storms and there's they're removing trees all the time but they're damaged trees like for that for me to say that we've ever in the 40 years that we've been there ever removed a tree that was healthy for just really no reason it's never happened so I'm just looking at this like it's just not and they're on an acre and a half lot all wood wooded trees Chris maybe you can help me out yes say somebody's getting a a shed right and Ray has to go out to examine the property how much does he charge CU you might know what the township charge like when when the Construction office goes out to someone's property and Chris correct me if I'm wrong permits are a percentage of the construction cost generally speaking basically you're judging how big of a project is going to be do expect by the cost of that project so whatever so I think that whatever the fee is that the committee can decide to do what I'm saying is that for all the fees that are charged in the township I think that's one of the lowest ones if I'm not mistaken for any fee that the township charges to do something and somebody dog Li is what 10 bucks or and again I agree with Jamie I don't know to me it could be free because I don't think that if someone if some but the problem is going to be because I've seen this before someone goes and cuts down 10 trees and someone comes in here and they are I rate that someone C I see it being fair if somebody cuts down 10 trees there's no feet and they don't replace it with 10 healthy trees then we can go out to the property and say you need to pay you're not planting the 10 new healthy trees that you just cut down like that then seems more of like a fee a penalty whatever but to cut them down I don't I don't see a unless we start to see it being abused there's no I don't see it and actually I hear from Trenton that in October they want to repeal this all together cuz it's too hard to keep track and too hard to I mean that's the other thing how many homeowners are just going to cut trees without even knowing besides the 30 that are here that even know this exists and I've been here 22 years I've never seen nobody cut down a bunch of trees at one time now again IR Woods could be different so respect to that but but it's not like we're out all the cut down in the town monitor that we spent 45 minutes talking about this I don't even know who's monitoring that it's just not it doesn't make great ter my U Terence Brown nine Pine Tree Drive my question would be um well my comment I guess is like I mean I stand here was and so many of my trees are unhealthy now I've gotten uh you know people to come out and give me quotes on how to you know try to make those and it's very expensive you're talking about you know they $4 $5500 you know looking at per tree to inject it and things like that and I have rows of trees that are bad but you know we kind of want them to stay because of the you know it kind of blocks shade and sight and give privacy but they're they're already bad and my my issue would be is that the continue like branches and limbs that are falling in my neighborhood while people are walking around so I have to make you know the car sometimes they say hey do I cut this tree now because it's it's falling every time a wind you know a wind comes through branches are falling people having to step over on the sidewalk or do I let it stay into the whole tree fall over and you know work life sometimes you're not able to make that decision before that tree FS so I think that you know for people like me who you know basically land is majority of sand and clay the trees I mean they don't bear good life there you know but but ter unhealthy trees you can cut yeah we're talking about I think that with this what they put in places they're trying to put in places healthy trees you can't cut more than five or four in five years unhealthy trees or something that's going to damage your property you can cut I would offer my help but I'm not I'm not much help with that but but I'm saying like you can cut unhealthy trees or trees is going to damage your property as much as you want cut away what they're saying is healthy trees and you bring up a good point Devil's Advocate if someone would pay $500 a tree to cut down five healthy trees that's what Terence gave me he said to treat it we saying that's to make to treat it how much how much it cost to cut down a tree oh it varies $2,000 yeah it's great thanks I appreciate that Mr har if somebody if somebody would cut down five trees at $10,000 $22,000 each that's 10 grand right they paid their and they wouldn't they didn't pay us they no they paid their right CU they wouldn't pay 50 bucks to have somebody come out and make sure the tree is worth cutting down if they cut down their six Health tree I don't whatever everybody want else want to do I don't care if it's five I don't care 50 buck doesn't matter I don't have any trees I don't I don't there's any one of those things we see okay well Mr Harper that's unhealthy tree you can cut as many of those as you want but it takes a long time before the tree to start showing those ants on inside they eat the whole of the tree out that's how they do it they the whole fair [Music] enough but I think they were exercising the same point like that's an unhealthy trade right that you can cut as many you can cut 20 of them down nobody like you come you come look at they don't look liketh treat don't say it on record not good I'm just tell I hear you how many of you cut down you live there my neighb stor better yet let me ask you this Mr Harper Mr Harper let me ask you a question when's the last time you cut down a tree but what I'm saying is ideally right like when's the last time you cut down a tree you just told me that no I'm just joking but when's the last time you cut down a tree was the last time you cut down a tree before that I'm not I'm just asking I'm just saying like I don't know that and you can't sit chair watch those ant I go up all day long eating those trees out and stand my next got right now and de ant up now talking about like that in today [Music] Market I'm you I mean it's just it's a lot of money and I'm just tell you a treat in front of your house if I got put Mone my house do but because I've Liv there a long time I know what those ANS do to those trees you through our all you want trees up man they look like Big O trees but they a what you think it takes a period of time the right out of [Music] and I get it I'm not mad at you I know you're not mad at so um um one of the examples you gave earlier was if the tree was damaging your your principal structure does that also apply to accessory structures as well shed pool fence under the definition it just says is causing obvious damage to structures such as building foundations sidewalks Etc it doesn't it doesn't limit to principal structure so if it was a shed a pool a patio um another structure then it would be it could be this tree what's what is the thought on the fee and what is Chris's Outlook yeah Chris what do you think about the fee on uh number of applications that we're actually using it how much time does it take for you to go for if it were you right how long how much time it take for you to go out examine the tree to make sure the tree how long take longer minutes out of 3,000 homes how many applications do you expect of this ordinance a year after four trees cut down Chris so would you go out and do the tree or would somebody else go out and do the tree like who does the tree that decision hasn't been made yet Wendy who would you have go out and do the tree do you know would it be the head of would it be the department head or would it be the yes for somebody to cut it down I that department it just becomes part of their job like I don't see exactly even if they have to go visit a home once a month like we're not we don't need to necessarily pay them extra to do that right part of now if there's paperwork I don't know like I just so what I did was I just looked at what your salary was divided it by the amount of years the hours the time that it will take you is like uh it takes you 3 minutes or 4 minutes is about $8 so you guys what do you what do you want to do I I say we I would just say start with no fee and just see where we are with applications and revisit it I agree at another time fair enough okay no Fe right I say no Fe I I don't see what is there any more discussion on this or can I call a question I I have no trees well I'd like to uh I'd like the motion for 10-24 10 ordinance 10-2020 to amend section 20945 a fee of 0 second 20946 proof to require only pictures and a narrative appendix a from a list of approved trees to a comprehensive list of prohibited trees I'd like to add an amendment that this or be reexamined in one year from the state of Passage fair enough uh second roll call Barkley yes Carr yes mayor Henley yes yes motion passes 4 Z payment of vouchers mayor if I may just for process wise the um amended ordinance will be reintroduced re publication it will be Ren noticed and the public hearing will be held on uh the meet first meeting is September at which time there'll be a a public hearing on it and it'll be put for vote for adoption okay 105-24 payment of vouchers this payment approves this resolution approves the payment of bills through 8813 2024 do we have a motion motion Berkeley second M any discussion I have a question who are we advertising a position for it's the first thing in the budget it's it was $115 to advertise for a position you're talking about the bill list not the budget the bill list okay it probably was the court the deputy Court Administrator position the court administrative position Deputy Court administrative oh Deputy Court okay thank you roll call Berkeley yes Carr yes mayor Henley yes Mungo yes motion passes 4 Z 10624 resolution awarding 2025 trash contract we have a motion I make a motion for 10624 uh second any discussion yeah I have a question what does it mean that container lifts included contract for every year say container lifts included it means that the vendor has the option to send the one armed truck around if needed okay but we're not we're not being required to do the one arm okay thank you I know that someone asked about Mr G that we're basically keeping the same service yes so use your current bins put out what you can on on the curve this the same discussion um when we talking about the trash here's kind of a couple different things to look at keeping it you know keeping it the same right so here's the issue and this is just a FYI that we're looking at in the future those trucks are obsolete are going to be obsolete right um so as time goes on right now when these are obsolete you're kind of forced to go the other way which means that you kind of run into a situation where you could end up paying more later down the line so that was something to think about through the whole process secondly um the one armed one person in the truck it's been said up here that people believe it to be better to have two people on a truck that's not accurate there's more there's been more injury and more dismemberment with two people on a truck in the back of the truck um not being seen etc etc versus the one person on the truck who stays inside the truck and who's not outside um so those are kind of the things that you look at secondly I know that we talked about the amount of trash that you can put out at one time so I was lucky enough to take a look at our landfills um right down the street and we're on the second landfill that now they're looking for a third landfill to be able to have a place to put our trash um that is a a bit of a concern to uh you know to to to where the trash is going to where the trash is going to go um so these I think are all things that when we're making this choice you know we have we have to keep in mind you know going forward I mean this is what the residents want but the residents have to understand going forward these are the things that we're going to come that are going to come into play it's going to come into play that these trucks may be obsolete so we may end up paying more later than we could have paid now um and that's fair enough but just remember that part of it um and also they said that most people are paying more money for the trash because of where you have to put the trash at right like again the landfill is in the sky so um I do think this is a good choice for us because that's what the people want but I also think pragmatically that we're going to pay later on down the line so it's like one of those things do you get the when microwave ovens came out do you get the microw Wave oven early or do you get it like after everybody else has it or supply and demand that's microwave OV is probably a bad choice to use but that's what we're what we're looking at more or less um so with that being said roll call Berkeley yes car yes mayor Henley yes Mungo yes motion passes 4 Z consent agenda resolution resolution no consent agenda items are considered to be routine and will be enacted with a single motion any items requiring expenditure are supported by certification availability of funds any items requiring discussion will be removed from the consent agenda um I would like to remove a C and H A is 10724 C is 10924 and H is4 24 I make a motion for b d and f through I second any discussion roll call Berkeley yes car yes mayor hry yes yes motion passes for zero I make a motion for 10724 resolution approv and purchase from the state contract vendor for police STV Interceptor a second mayor besides being a um a needy of the fire department to have a seat truck for the fire chief what we also found out is because it's a new truck that that truck could be used for the police department it just would have to be retrofitted for the police department I don't know what we're talking about that a is to buy a two police SUVs interceptors okay um I wrote to both Chiefs and asked them uh especially Chief um Brian if he needed to because one of the the the the police the fire SUV Interceptor for the fire department was going to be given away when we get the new truck that's more safe for a fire chief so I don't know if we need buy two new ones since we are getting one from the fire department and we just need to recit it could we buy one new one and then use the one from the fire company which is only one or two years old for that second one and neither of the Chiefs are here when I email them you you know what I'm talking about I have an idea what you're talking about you're talking about the pickup truck that the fire chief is getting and then the car that the fire chief has given that to the police chief and right fire chief said he would do and but the interceptors are different the the fire chief and the police chief trucks are like the tahoos they're the bigger trucks they're not the interceptors yeah they're not the same I would say the the police interceptors they're smaller they're smaller like they're the ones that the police are riding around in right none of them are riding in those the big toes but we still need we're still going to give that one from the fire department to the police if it's bigger than what they use they can use it somehow but they have so typically a Interceptor has other modifications to it including a reinforced undercarriage right and that's have to pay the extra to retrofit it for the police force instead of take buying a new one and then retrofitting it so I I tell you what I would suggest I would suggest that one of those cars go to the rec program only because that the rec program used to have a van that they could they would use now they use the Explorer and I've been told that they don't they sometimes have trouble fitting everything that they need into the Explorer that they needed more room for it so I think that in my opinion but I don't make those decisions it would be best fit to go to the rec department but I don't I mean the interceptors are very the interceptors are what the cops are riding around and they wouldn't ride around in the tie Hub I might be I might be able to beat the tie Hub if I get pulled over I'm saying this was presented to us and one of the reasons why we agreed to buy a truck for the fire chief because he said he was going to get his his uh vehicle to the police department and now we're not going to do that to save money it seems like we need to be able to be very good with our money and not waste it and you could probably buy something cheaper for the rec department if you really needed it maybe we could approve one and wait till we get the uh police chief in here and the fire chief in here to talk about that I don't know why they didn't uh answer my emails probably because they were very busy with um probably last night um I don't think we need to buy two new ones well here's the other part right we talked about hiring more police officers right we talked about and this is something that we talked about a lot of times we talked about hiring more police officers than we currently have we have the new development that went in over on Spring side so if we're going to continue to hire police officers as we planned and as we put into the budget I don't see why we wouldn't we wouldn't need more interceptors to do that and the Interceptor in the big truck they're not the same you would have to you would have to look at them as Berkley they're not one's like a Chevy Tahoe and the other ones like they're like Ford Explorers so there there's smaller and that's kind of what the police all the police in the area Willingboro police East Hampton Police they all have the interceptors so that car that truck wouldn't be any good to them I know that what we talked about doing if we if we want to talk about that we talked about taking the police chief's car giving it to the fire the fire chief's car giv to the police chief and the police chief giving his car to the recreation department and they may very well do that I don't know I don't know what they're going to do with it but I know they can't be out there on the road chasing bad guys in the Tahoe bu I would say there's several cons considerations in that too sir is that um number one I've counted I think four police interceptors in that lot over there and we've only gotten two in the past two years uh the police interceptors see generally see a 24 hour duty cycle um it goes to the safety of the officers and to the effectiveness of our police response to have vehicles that are working and I think is very important and secondly is that the time to order Vehicles is now um should we delay on this it's very likely that our Police Department won't be able to get new vehicles until next year but they have to prepare them correct correct yeah um I just want to say that you know the funds are available for this um stated through our 2024 Capital if the chief is I I trust our chief and if he's saying we need them I'm going to say we need them and I agree to go ahead with the purchase of the two roll call Berkeley yes Carr yes mayor Henley yes yes motion passes 4 Z [Music] um I motion to approve uh 109-20 resolution approving repairs to rank hovas Community Center second any discussion mayor I had to recuse myself because I'm friends with the construction person who's being hired roll call Berkeley recuse myself car yes mayor Henley yes yes motion passes 301 14 Mr Mayor I make a motion for 11-24 e no 114 you said e or h h h yeah that's H out oh 11424 yeah resolution approving Mo MOA for direct H 17 we have a motion that was his Mo second manga any discussion yes I will not repeat what uh Mr Hamilton said but I agree totally it seems like there is not a set fee that they're going to charge every time they do a job somewhere else and they get a bigger fee we have to match that who knows what that could be they could get a job where they all of a sudden ended up with $50 more an hour and now we're stuck paying that they said that uh it's unlimited number of people how long people as long as it's still considered a part uh a temporary the state considers a temporary worker anyone who works up to 8 and 1 12 months out of 12 question and I'm sorry my my I had asked I had talked to our director and you said you thought it was mainly for doing the roads but when I looked at this it talked about Construction and repairs so I'm not sure what it's going to be used for we have 12 people who work for our Department of Public Works I don't see where we really need more people I don't understand and it seems like this is putting us into a spot where I don't know where we're going to get the money this was not budgeted and the big thing and you're all going to hate me but I don't care this is Union One 72 Union 172 was the union who volunteered to help Mr Carr and the mayor put the basketball hoops up and Mr Carr used it for his campaign Union 172 was all over the web page where Mr CL was running for Township committee and Union 172 walked the streets with him handing out so any Union that's helping one of us get elected we cannot turn around and hire them them at who knows what hours who knows how long because it's a conflict of interest it is unethical it is illegal and it is cronyism and I'm tired of it so I'm going to vote no and anyone who votes yes agrees with the cronyism and is responsible for the unethical um vote that would happen with we cannot approve this if it was Union 627 who had never had any work with us that's fine but this Union constantly has helped one or more of our Township committee members get elected and I'm just upset thank you now you can say what you want there I think Odis will say most of it but I believe this is for the construction that goes we don't pay these we don't pay them if I'm not mistaken is that correct yeah we pay we're they are employees we're hiring them as temporary right it's a temporary hire but they do the they do the construction part what construction this is a this is a measure that allow the the township of Westampton to hire help for specific projects for example you like to complain about high prices to redo a street that cost a million dollars for a vendor to do there's a possibility that Chris be able to get that project done for half by direct hiring these people it's an indefinite amount of time so they're not guaranteed a job here it's just a tool we don't have to use it but it's there Chris decides he wants to use it it says it's at the Township's discretion and if I'm not mistaken when we talk about the streets there's a street over there that we did that we didn't have direct retire and the street had to be redone because it was done wrong it wasn't done correctly so they had to redo it now what I will say for every can I finish I didn't interrupt okay I'm sorry no works so the other the other part about it is that we all well we should know that the unions do make sure they hire certain people are trained for certain people so Union employees which our town is full of Union employees that that live here they're they are guaranteed work in a in an environment where people aren't always guaranteed work so this is an option for us to put those things in play as well as well as cutting costs so it has has nothing to do with the basketball court has nothing to do with people knocking doors it has more to do with protecting our residents and getting them the best service that they could possibly have from trained skilled labor I disagree because there's other unions in town it just happens to be this Union and the question is then will this Union help this year with walking around handing out you got a call and ask them n see you're running you ask him what you've asked them for help I don't know what you you got a call and ask them for help okay I just think it's unethical I maybe I'd like to hear from them the I think it's unethical to yell at little kids at National Night Out listen let's move forward so I asked the attorneys opinion is this a play to pay oh what if you'd like to discuss I can give my legal advice in Clos session if you'd like okay roll call Berkeley no car yes mayor Henley yes yes motion passes three um one sorry we will now open a meeting for public comment please remember to state your name and address for the record reminder this is for common only hey Lorie hou 14 can I drive I just had something nice to say I just wanted to thank the police department he's not here right now for having the youth Police Academy in July the children had a wonderful time and they learned so much my grandson wants to be a police officer now I mean they were they're great they were terrific with these kids and I wanted to let you all know thank you thank you uh my name is Preston mcy uh 210 Second Street ran cus I I apologize in advance I don't speak well in public you're fine I've been a 31e my wife and I been and our son have been a 31e resident of the village of rocus and I've always felt that the township put the safety and the welfare of residents in the Forefront I can't say that I feel that way recently uh on on January 4th I sent a a thing and I don't know what you call it on the on the website that at the corner of Bridge Street and Second Street uh a resident planted bushes on what I believe and have been told is County property which is respons led the oversight of the township those trees are at least 12 to 14 ft High they're right at the road Road and you cannot come to the corner of Second Street and see oncoming traffic from the right unless you pull out halfway into the lane part of that problem is there are a number very often are cars parked on the other side of bridge and vehicles that come down from Main Street who more often than not are trying to make the light a really short light and they come down very quickly and you have to pull out and they come into your lane into the the opposite lane than they should be heading towards the traffic light my wife travels that way every morning and there been a number of times it's been she's let me know how close it's been and it's happened to me and recently I came out there and I looked left started to pull out and there were as a kid coming on a bike right in front of the bushes and if he had been going any faster or I have been going any quicker I'd probably be in jail right now uh I had contacted the township again in January I called I didn't make it pain the ass of myself but I've called at least five or six times uh one of the problems I have is that they have this thing that says we'll call you back in 24 hours uh the last message I left was three weeks ago uh for the public works I'm still waiting for the return call uh the fire chief has looked at it in his oversized truck and he said he can't see out he told me that something was going to be done in 10 days that was about 3 months ago they've gone out to this resident they kicked I know that I know the fire I believe the fire chief went and and other somebody I think from the public works went I'm not 100% sure but they were told to leave her property and now the most recent I've heard is that uh it's in the hands of you I don't know if you're aware of that but has been going around and the uh the uh I apologize again yeah yeah I think it's kind of uh uh but the problem is it also she put them in and it does not conform to the line of sight triangle I don't know you know but you have to have a certain Vision coming to an an intersection that you can see the oncoming intersection and you can't see Squat and again I was told by the county that it is on County property but it's being M that is a responsibility then of the township and the only way to fix it the trees have to go at least four to five of the trees have to go uh because you can you literally we just got to say how many time you going to cut down five trees why a you something well they cut down or I'll tell you what I'll pay the 50 bucks but I mean it's it's literally a really really really dangerous intersection and this has been going on so it was before before January I spoken to a police officer I believe last summer when we had a uh some somebody went through and took change out of cars unlock cars and I asked them I said could you talk to whoever you have to talk to to see if they can do something and look they're busy and I'm sure it slipped this mine but I've called the the the uh um Public Works I'm sure you press give me you you I guess you forgot my number but um so I got a quick question sure is it our responsibility to cut it down or is it the County's responsibility to cut it down yes can I actually ask Captain Vincent not to come speak to this because we just discussed this this morning vce come on up or if you can talk back there it's fine too please come to inform to come on give it all come up to the in the microphone he said that he said we talked before right yeah yeah yeah he's been really really responsive so we not going to write you up Y and I I will I will take onus cuz I I promise you that every time you reach out to pris he reaches out to me um so 100% on that um the only update I truly have is that I will be in court here on August the 29th at 8:00 a.m. regarding that matter okay that'll that is in the hands of the municipal court at this point good so so you didn't know about it okay he's not yeah he's not oh he's he's he's a solicitor it's all so as discussed on the phone I try to give everybody that benefit of the de and and I get it I know none of us want be bad guys to a resident and and um we even had someone who friends with her went up and and said and he said it was like she just doesn't care that it's a hazard so uh it's just really bad I take a ride come up sa Street hit Bridge Street and he knows I will I ride through we we've taken all all our vehicles through so our last step um was to go through municipal court and follow that I'm sorry you said this when uh 29 Thursday Thursday 8 a.m. 29 here here okay yep thanks Vince thank you problem thanks sir thank you I ask one one other quick question sure I hate that take some time uh as a as a village resident uh I was on the petition to not allow them to have chickens okay I'm sorry not allow them to do what chick said reallow people on small properties to have chickens because but I was I was reassured that there's going to be a committee that's going to oversee all this our neighbor who had chickens last time before that and they had to get rid of them does not live on a large enough lot the they build a coup too close to the property line they have as of today what I've seen three chickens and two ducks which are not allowed what are they going to do with the Ducks they've never applied for a permit they've never taken the class they've never paid the money and this is they've known about I think I talk to him uh but he because I know I know you had sent them a notice but there it sits and there's obviously and there was supposed to be a committee that was going to oversee the chickens yeah wasn't there is there so it's not we had three we just talked we had three people who have emailed about being on the committee right and I think we just we want two more so that we have an odd well three is an odd number but so we have a little bit more um input from people and I of have five so we're supposed to vote on that and and add these people on the committee on our September meeting if I'm not mistaken so we are going through with that it's just people have emailed three people have already emailed about being on the committee getting back to so what's going to happen with the people who shouldn't who didn't put an application chickens where the do who didn't who so I think that we have there's fines in place for that right but nobody seems to do anything to let them know are you policing this I mean come on not a problem not a problem us the charge and again the one thing I do do acknowledge they're uh immigrants they're really really nice people but they come from a culture that I don't think has any idea that their culture is so much I think where they're from turkey and I think in Turkey according to my you know sisters live there you know everybody has chickens and everybody has a but that's there not here and I don't know if you if you've ever heard duck s first thing in the morning oh gee they're almost as bad as bruers so it's not good guess we'll you'll take care of the D thanks again I don't know how much uh information you want me to give but give it to us all works so um there is that language barrier and actually um if you believe they're of Turkish descent a year and a half ago we hired a firan of Turkish descent so I 100% use him in this um but we have about 23 of an application that was completed we are just having like I was out there 2 days ago and we are having definite interpretation issues so I'm FaceTiming with what I believe to be the daughter but I told them to just prepare yourself because once I have that definitive number on the application chances are they are below threshhold and will not be able to have the chickens for the DS per cuz they're Lots less than 90 per okay okay I'm to basically thanks vce stay close listen there're stocks on my property I did not buy them we do have water uh Anthony got 109 West Mel Tree Drive um I mean police chief was here he disappeared uh police the fous job last night with the National Night Out weather was perfect turn out great uh some good K9 demos um something to consider for next year um I thought it odd that somebody was giving out free hot dogs and then we had a hot do vendor you know like that's a guy's business that's his primary product we probably should have some type of coordination there to not hinder our vendors from making some money uh the other thing I I thought it was kind of disrespectful when I saw playful shirts walking around uh something that's supposed to be nonpartisan uh something that should probably be made aware of to our candidates not to have people showing up with t-shirts for promoting themselves uh something else off topic uh one of my neighbors came to me the other day and he's like our community signs the terror Aiden um so he's like would the township consider redoing signs for a lot of the communities I think it came up in the past for thornfield like there was a sign at one time sign no longer exists uh I think I don't know if the money still exists but there was money from MRP for wants to spend our money what I'm joking no I'm saying there there was money from MRP for Community enhancement type projects you're right I I think signage for all the little towns or neighborhoods and stuff like that is representative of the c as a whole agree uh so maybe it's something worth looking at and seeing if what signs need refreshing and maybe we get new signs for a lot of the uh neighborhoods thank you thank you hey guys G preparing 138 Winstead uh so for public comment I have two public comment uh this caught my eye and I'm just wanted to run it by the committee to get some feedback um apparently OSHA is updating the fire brigade standard now this was a standard that was established back in 1980 and so OD if you want to copy down the site the docket is ohsa o-27 27- 0073 you can go to their website and pull it up but apparently this is calling a bit of a kafuffle with just about every Fire Department in the nation because apparently um the standards that they're proposing are uh potentially Bur some for the firefighters the MTS and also for volunteer firefighters volunteer personnel and also for professional firefighters burns them for training purposes and also potentially uh there's going to be a cost impact now there was public comment but that comment period closed on July the 22nd now I did check out the New Jersey leaga municipalities website apparently they were putting together a position I'm assuming they caucused with all of the municipalities within the within the state and so I guess my comment was well you know were we sort of caucused with and if so did we get any kind of buyin on that statement any kind of feedback Etc I went to the OSHA website I searched in the docket I only found seven instances of comments related to New Jersey and I did not find anything from the New Jersey League of municipalities now I could have just botched it but I'm curious um if if that comment represented the you know what we in the township would weigh W in with on these new proposed uh regulations so there is going to be a informal according to their website virtual hearing on November the 12th you can register as a private citizen or as a representative of a group and make a statement Etc so that may be something you know we we do pay attention to because apparently um there's going to be a fiscal impact and so we need to look to the budget for next year and kind of then if these RS are passed what's that cost going to be and how's that going to be passed on to the townships so just wanted to share that observation and then i' been communicating with Wendy on the issue with solicitors in the township and do you want me to say anything more about that not not not not you Bob I mean he's right there talk behind his back you can comment go ahead yeah so on the issue of solicitors I know we've talked about this before but this kind of this is a little bit Oddball um our definition of solicitors uh basically is pretty restrictive in the sense that it only applies if you go door to door house to house but yesterday in my development someone was getting a home improvement uh new roof put on and the um the contractor actually set up the tent the kind of you'd see a festival Affair and this was pretty well run this is fairly well organized so assuming you know the what they were doing was kind of inviting pastors by to stop at this tent and engage with them maybe they were giving out literature brochures Etc you know what that's soliciting except they're not going door too they're not going house to house so I thought maybe if it makes sense if they're doing that in the neighborhood uh maybe it makees sense to possibly amend the definition to because think about it you could have a guy stand there in your development wearing a sandwich board and cars drive up and he hands piece of paper he's technically soliciting but not within the definition of solicitors in our Township so maybe something we want to think about thanks guys thank you all stre Co New Jersey uh Preston is very right um site triangles in the village are horrendous it's not just that one intersection um and the intersection he's talking about um you'll recognize the trees because those are the pictures I just sent you so exact ones but what I really wanted to do is say something nice okay and thank you all very much for discussing that storm water um it was really nice to see a good discussion and uh what I think some reasonable Solutions uh and I want to say thank you and applaud you all for that so thank you so much close for public comment all in favor hi dates to remember next Township meeting is September 3rd at 7:00 p.m. Land Development board meeting is September 4th at 700 p.m. historic commission August 28th at 7: p.m. Recreation committee meeting August 14th at 7: p.m. uh committee leaz report um I'll start so I just wanted to also thank the Police Department chief Ferguson did a nice job and his team um organizing National Night Out instead of canceling it completely so um last night was we couldn't have asked for any better weather it was perfect I got there you know right at 6:00 and already the parking lot was full um so it was great to see everybody out for that um the chickens I know that we had just seen a couple things come through for that committee and I am going to volunteer as the Committee Member to S sit in on that committee unless somebody else wants it but I'll make that a known fact right now wouldn't mind um getting that up and running um the neighborhood signs that's come up multiple times we've talked about um possibly even forming a committee for that to make sure that all neighborhoods are represented and have new signage I know that it's come up about public works and maintaining you know those signs or the The Cutting of the grass around those um so it's just those little things that would need to be worked out but I agree I think that would add a nice touch to our town um and really that's all I have I just wanted to again thank all of you for coming out and voicing your opinions and um letting us know what's going on that we don't know about so thank you I agree last night I was at the police National Night Out and not just the police but the fire company and the EMTs were there uh doing a oh my goodness a wonderful job so I give lots of kudos to them uh lots of people I didn't realize we had that many little kids in in Westampton so I hope the schools are ready um and I do agree I think we need we in the past we had a policy that that anytime Westampton had some type of event like the firehouse uh open house or back to not back to school but uh the that this for the police department that there was no campaigning and there was campaigning and uh they were explained to them and they decided they did not want to take their shirts off uh so I think that in the future I know that Craig always when he has the open house fire company calls all the cam all the candidates and tells them that there is no campaigning and you know our police chief was new and I'm sure next year he'll do the same thing uh it just is fair to everyone and we West Hampton sponsors it so Westampton does not sponsor any candidates um know there was something else oh mayor I didn't know if you wanted to talk about the ran cookus Community Center did you want to talk of what you've been talking about to the residents of ran cookus of using it as a Rec Center or not no okay he doesn't want to talk about it thank you that's it I'd like to thank all of you for coming out today it was a good discussion on the storm water thank you for all your input I think we got an ordinance that satisfies most people I think the chief and his team did an amazing job with National Night Out yesterday I like Jamie were there at 6 and the parking lot was full it was great to see all of you out there um finally I'll solicit one more time Gary um we are accepting applications for the chicken committee Economic Development and the sign committee so if you live in a development want to represent your town please uh let administrator Gibson know so we could put you all and inform that but yes there are several towns needen signs and it'd be nice to represent the the the the aura of that neighborhood the uh the character of that neighborhood with individual signs instead of you know uniform signs throughout the town so or whatever the committee decides the sign committee that is so that's all I have thank you some notes I'll try to make it quick one Speaking of trees um I talked to a resident about trees when we talk about the trees over at the village and how you know some of them are going to be cut down so we talked about inputting um some trees or or what that would look like right to create a sound barrier I was you know one of the people there when they were cutting trees down or talk about cutting trees down for psng and and you know listening to the cars go bu us but the res us were're complaining about not having a sound barrier and you know we're going to cut if they're going to cut more down and we talked about there's some that are dead that are being cut down then we would need to look to replace them I would ask that we have a um an open form of conversation about what trees to put in and Chris if you could do some research for us um one of the things that I would move to do is is that you know we talk about the the community redevelopment fund um there's probably I don't know 220,000 23 somewhere in there um and we've been pretty um responsible with that but I think if we look at using some of those funds you know maybe up to $10,000 to to put trees there as a sound barrier I mean when you talk about people living in town you want them to be to be there and live comfortably and if I'm not mistaken committee woman Berkeley that would affect you directly as far as help helping the sound barriers so um I think that that would be helpful uh s signs so yes I we've said a million times over that we'd be willing to talk about and have open format about what the signs are so I spoke to a resident on 425 they sent me a picture of how back in the day the tfield sign was and that we need to buy a TFI sign and I said respectfully if we're going to buy a sign and we should buy signs for every development it can't just be charfield everyone is a taxpayer and then what'll happen is we'll buy a sign for tarnsfield and then you know someone say where's my sign where's my sign so that person a responsible person said you know all right well you know what I'm going to do I'm going to get you some numbers and then I'll bring it up and we can talk about it so that was on May 25th I just looked up on my phone um so listen I you know obviously maybe creating a committee is a better a better format to do that but and what I said to that person was some of that money is directed to fixing up the American Legion um a commitment from being elected uh there was people who have been in the American Legion especially for the veterans breakfast that talked about how poorly the house is conditioned so they have a grant I think the grant is $20,000 we can't fix anything until the grant goes through because it may throw off the grant right they I think if you if anybody goes there there's a deep there was a deep dividend to the porch um there's been some issues with you know their gutters um the inside there there's some issues if you just want to walk through I'm sure they'd be more than happy to show you guys so what I said to that Resident I said I feel like we want to get a decent amount of bang for a buck right like getting a bunch of trees for 10,000 bucks right and then fixing that up and then getting signs but we don't want to spend $50,000 on signs like that takes a huge chunk of the money that maybe people care about signs may people maybe people don't we'd rather be able to make sure we do something with a community redevelopment fund that everyone can can profit off of or or that everyone can can enjoy um and that was that convers ation and that's what the vision is right like we don't know what that's going to cost but we think that's fair for our veterans um the trees $10,000 that's something that you know you had a decent amount of residents that were out that were upset and complaining and to be honest with you when you talked about going along this caror you know we we this is the main attraction to our town that we want everyone to know how special we are and how much you know we take care of our town um next let me see your the all right so next um National Night Out I thought National Night Out was was fantastic I think that the best thing that we did not that we did it on purpose was move the night because no one else had anything else to do and they were able to everybody was able to come out and enjoy each other's company um they gave out pretzels they gave out hot dogs hamburgers and there were vendors there as well um we talking about the um the hot dogs being given out versus the hot dogs being purchased I I mean I I guess they could be more responsible I think that recovery donated to hot dogs and hamburgers so we got what we got from them so then we had to be you know we're going to we're going to use what we use but um I don't know how much that affected the hot dog person but I think that is something to take a look at and see you know maybe he can change what he's going to do because if we get free hot dogs you know again I think that the residents deserve to get the free hot dogs before they pay for the well before they pay for the hot dogs I know you're not saying that I know that's not what you're saying but I think that the communication could be better right he opted not to right and then somebody else came in correct I I don't I don't disagree I think that the communication has to be better but I don't know the time frame and which they found out what they were getting from recovery sometimes when people are donating they really don't tell you what they're going to give you you kind of get what they have that is getting ready to run out or whatever you know happens um why I said no I didn't want to discuss the ran cookus Village Firehouse is because as a group we haven't been able to talk about that um Jamie doesn't know about the conversation that we have Durant cook is Firehouse so I think it would be unfair to put her in that position when we don't have we didn't have an open dialogue and there's there's no change in what we're going to do what we talked about was we talked about renting that out out to the whole Community right um and utilizing that especially if we do some different firehouses Etc like if we have two different firehouses de that that Community Center is rented out the one in Spring medals is rented out every day all week long and if that's no longer available then what are we going to do so it was just really like uh a meeting to kind of see what we were you know what options were available but um that was that as far as people wearing t-shirts I I mean so I'm not up for election I don't have I guess I do have a I do have a piece of I can't understand you what did you say I was trick I was whispering so you didn't hear me but um I mean so what I saw was there was a lot of kids that had t-shirts on um if somebody didn't like it so my issue was this I had a couple I had I had to a sheriff's officer pull me to the side and not committee man C but somebody else and they talked about that a kid came up to them and asked about you know somebody told them they can't wear this t-shirt and you know why can't I wear this t-shirt etc etc and the Sheriff officer said you can wear whatever you want people can't tell you what not to wear you're a kid I would say this there's a lot of people who have kids in the room and some of us the kids are a little bit older and I don't know that any of us appreciate if an adult approaches a kid about what they're wearing what I would wish is is that the responsible what I feel like what will be responsible is is to to have a conversation with the parents and say I don't think that you know you know maybe it's not appropriate you know etc etc but those kids went to the sheriff's officer they went to their parents kids now are very um they they know they know social media they went on social media and looked it up so I mean those are the things going forward I know I wouldn't appreciate some an adult talking to my talking to my kid about what they have on because a lot of times again the kids are just they're wearing what they picked up so um that part I wish would have been would have been handled differently but again it is what it is um again I think we already discussed in detail about local 172 um if they're going to if you know we don't have to use local 172 but if they're going to give us the best work and the best bang for our buck then I think that we create ourselves options as a town and listen I've done a lot of research on this town we're a rated town right you got A+ a a minus B+ if you put us up against any of the towns in our area we're we have a better score than them except for we're we're pretty closer even with Burlington Township when you're talking about our taxes and what we pay we they rank the Big Towns but when you're talk they don't have us ranked in the Big Towns but when you look at the small towns and you break it down you can go on two 2004 Town rankings and you look at what our tax our average tax rate is we're the third lowest of everyone of anybody that's on that page of what we pay as a town we've never not given the residents every bit of service that they've always had we haven't taken any service away we continue to make sure that we spend responsibly and that we're able to continue to offer everyone the services that they're needed lastly and certainly not least I think the average value of homes on there on that same uh ranking that ranks us at a town and small towns we're one of the higher homes as far as as housing values I think that someone just put a video up that it takes if you put your home on the market it'll sell in approximately 18 days so when I say these things I say you know I appreciate that we're talking about the trees and that we just try to get it right for the residents because that is very important you know I appreciate everyone coming out and us talking about all these things to just try to get it right to make everybody happy is that are the most many people as we possibly can or I think a lot of times people just appreciate being Hur I appreciate you sir for coming out and bringing the bushes to light right and and I appreciate that more as much that you know Lieutenant KN know knows what's going on and that he's in front of it and trying to repair it right so um with that being said thank you all I appreciate everyone coming out I appreciate you listening and listen I appreciate everything we've done for West Hampton with that being said we're going to go huh like to respond I talked to the father of a candidate Who provided the girls with that shirt who had the candidates name on it and told people to vote for that person it was not a shirt that the kids went out at to TJ Max and bought themselves it was a shirt that was provided by the candidate and it didn't have paid for by like it should but it was not appropriate if you're going to do that then you need to tell all candidates that they can do their candidate stuff at Westampton we've never allowed it before it wasn't something that the kids could choose themselves somebody's got their hand up so before can I just say one other thing um who did you talk to First the parent or the kids the oldest kid I saw so you you addressed that's exactly what I said you don't there's no one here in this woman who has kids that would be happy with you addressing their kid before you address them I wasn't very happy myself so that doesn't mean that you to take it out in people's kids I also spoke to the police chief and what did the police chief say he was going to go talk to you that he I haven't had a word why would he talk to me I'm not even running I'm telling you he told me he was to talk to you I haven't heard from the police chief so I don't know where we're spending time on but come on M Miss Gale I'm sorry may I approach committee thank you so much um for allowing me to speak can you say your name Maddox canteen 472 West Country Club Drive Westampton last night was a wonderful night I've been participating in National Night Out every year for the past 20 years I'm a member of the rec committee and have been participating those children are children that have volunteered for the recck committee they have done Easter egg hunts they have fed uh with the pizza parties and have done all of those things no one said that anyone couldn't wear the shirt if I was notified that the shirts could not be worn I wouldn't have worn the shirts I agree that's not the problem the problem is children were approached and told what they couldn't do without addressing the parent I would have appreciated if you would have spoken to me if you would have spoken to me I would have appreciated that but you addressing children having those children come up to me upset saying they had to take off their shirts that was the problem without any reason for doing that I didn't appreciate that their parents didn't appreciate that and now I have a bunch of kids that I normally get to volunteer not willing to volunteer with the rec department anymore because their feelings were hurt they asked the police chief they asked the police guys what's the problem why why can't I wear this there was no answer that's all I'd like to say if if I was notified or if they were notified that that was something that was incorrect you said it earlier no one notified anyone that they couldn't do that correct so what was the problem it's the approach it's not what you say it's how you say it you don't approach young kids telling them what they can't do and go and take those shirts off that was inappropriate to do that I wouldn't treat anyone else's kids like that and I don't expect you as the township committee to treat children of Westampton like that thank you so resolution 013 2024 resolution authorizing the township committee and supportive staff to meet in private session and authorizing the exec I'm sorry the exclusion of the public from that portion of the meeting dealing with specific issues requiring nonpublic discussion attorney client attorney client privilege Personnel do we have a motion motion second any discussion all all in favor thank you good night oh we got a Sil [Music]