e e e e e e e e e e
e e e e e e e e right you're okay you got about 30 seconds Madam clerk the time is now 7:00 p.m.
I'd like to call this regular Township council meeting to order at 7M roll call Council one Peron present councilman Anderson present councilwoman Macintosh present Deputy Mayor Dr worthy present mayor Whitfield
present uh please rise for the flag salute I pledge to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for
all like to invite Reverend Charles from Life fountain Bible Church to lead us in prayer right to the microphone good evening Reverend Charles a great and mighty God we just come before you this
night we thank you for who you are you are the God of All Flesh unto you all men shall come We Gather here tonight before you humbly thanking you for our city and
everything that you have been doing for us Lord Our Father we stand for everyone who are here tonight especially our leaders starting from our Mayors the
deputy mayor our Council men and ladies and all the residents of you of uh willing bro father we know it is through you and by you that Kings reign
and rulers decree Justice there is nothing we can do without you we ask that whatever may be the deliberation tonight guide your
servants this your children Lord under whom you have committed the great responsibility of leading this great community give them Grace give them
wisdom give them understanding let everything that will be done be done to your glory let the righteousness be the foundation and the fear of God be the fork that thing that pull them together
to the end oh God that this great Community will enjoy the dividend of good governance we will enjoy progress prosperity and we stand strong that
other communities around and people around will love to come to our community to leave to raise their children because of these men and women that you have raised to lead us we thank
you and we give you praise as you continue to lead them to lead us to you we return every Glory and Honor tonight this we ask through Jesus Christ Our Lord and we say amen amen than
you um the compliance statement for this evening notice was uh sorry notice was provided in compliance with chapter 231 of the public laws of 1975 to the Burlington County Times Trenton Times in Philadelphia Inquirer staying the date time place in the agenda to the extent
it was known additionally notice was filed in the office of the Township Clerk thank you madam clerk good evening everyone we are in March our first meeting in March which marks the beginning of women's History Month um we
have a majority of our Council um serving as strong women in this community leading this community forward um and I'll ask councilwoman Macintosh to read our Proclamation okay thank thank you madam mayor Proclamation
recognizing women's History Month whereas throughout history women have driven Humanity forward on the path to a more equal and just Society contributing in Limitless ways to our character and progress as a people and whereas
American women of every race class and ethnic background have made historic contributions to the growth and strength of our nation and have played and contined to play a critical economic cultural and social role in every sphere
of Life Of The Nation by con constituting significant portion of the labor force working inside and outside of the home and whereas American women have played a unique role throughout history of the nation by providing the
majority of the volunteer labor force and where V vitally important in the establishment of early charitable and cultural institutions in our nation and whereas American women secure their own
rights of suffrage and equal opportunity while serving as early leaders in the Forefront of every major Progressive social change movement and which include but are not limited to the Abolitionist Movement the Emancipation movement the
industrial labor movement the Civil Rights movements and the peace movement which create a more fair and just Society for all and whereas American women have served our country courageously in the armed forces and dared to transcend
preconceived expectations and prove they are capable of doing all that a man could do and more and whereas despite these contributions the role of American women in history has been consistently overlooked and undervalued in
literature teaching and the study of American history and whereas the 2025 theme for women's history month is moving forward together women educated educating and inspiring Generations this
theme celebrates the Collective Strength and influence of women who have dedicated their lives to Education mentorship and Leadership through their effort they have served as an inspiration for all generations both
past and present and whereas the goals of of this year's theme is to recognize the achievement of contributions of women Educators mentors and leaders motivate all generations to pursue Education and Leadership roles raise
awareness about the unheralded Legacy legacies of women from every Walk of Life highlighting their unique contributions and diverse backgrounds bring together communities to explore share and celebrate women's H women's
history and achievement and create a blueprint for the future that honors our foremothers and builds bridges for the next generation of women and whereas during women's history month we honor the countless women who have sacrificed
and strived to ensure all people have an equal opportunity to pursue the American dream now therefore Samantha e Whitfield mayor of the township of Willingboro along with the township Council hereby Proclaim March as women History Month in
2025 thank you Madame May thank you Council woman MacIntosh and now we will go to our manag manager's report by Mr Harris good evening members of the governing body members of the Willing BG
Community um just a a a note that our tax assessment revaluation report um on the agenda will not happen tonight that's scheduled for the 18th of of March however we will receive uh an
update from our engineer Mr Russell Chapola on some of the uh engineering activities going on in the township good evening good evening Mr Chapa Deputy Mayor
councilwoman Council man and congratulations on women's History Month I did not know that until just now I'd like to start with the USA Track
and Field project if I may um do everybody have does everybody have a breakdown of the of the cost that I had uh asked to hand out okay good on I believe Mr Chapa if I can just stop
you for a minute Mr Harris I think the close captioning is off on the um Zoom so it can make that adjustment to hear that for James
yes you can continue Mr CH can everybody hear me through the microphone just speak gladly okay all right on February 27th uh we had our consultant align come in and talked to several of us in this room and they presented to us two
options or two concept plans for the USA Track and Field um first concept plan number one um we found or they found that there was insufficient space for all of the
activities that would be required um such as uh uh features running track full running track warm-up track football field Javelin shop but discus PBT long job um
while those um while those track events were included in option one the uh space for all of the items um included were were just not be going to
fit on the track or on the on the site um and I have I have some drawings here but I I don't think we we need to look at that so what's that okay yeah um I think I'll just go
through okay concept uh plan number one I'm just going to go through here I'll just do it myself here James if you can put up concept number one on the screen apologies mayor I don't have those documents as of
yet yeah I didn't I didn't other than just now um if anybody can see this all these all the track events or track whatever they call them track meets events fit Mr Chapola if you can
just give us a second I think he might have them James did you get that document just so that you're not holding the paper up it's we can't see it from here anyway I'm I'm just waiting for an email to come
in soon as I get it I'll I'll post it I I'll continue okay yeah you can just talk concept number one fits U fits all the track events on the site however
um a lot of the uh Track event features go into the parking lot uh there's a significant amount of parking that will be lost and also some of the some of the grass area on the site so while we we can fit all the
activities on the site we actually lose part of the site um and parking is is out a premium as it is so we lose a lot of the parking and we lose a lot of our our grass area concept uh plan number
two is a reworking of concept plan number one where everything fits within the confines of the site without losing any without losing any there we go that is concept number two concept
number two fits on the site without losing any parking and any other grass areas however as you could see um the oval the large oval on the left that in the large oval is the main running track
and there was a synthetic turf field that would have been inside that oval on option one but now that is now lost in favor of the javelin and other types of track events so um out of these two
concepts concept number two is the only concept where it's hard to see but that concept takes into account modifications of the southern end of J
JFK Center uh including Renovations for lockers and showers and a new addition that would be put on the uh Southern half of the JFK Center which would include a new addition for weight training and various recovery items for
the for the athletes um this particular U category is called Category 2 there are five categories for the USA Track and Field um I don't know what the
terminology is but they're rating uh class one being the most of significant or encompassing the most track events in class five is the least amount of track events but it still meets the minimum requirements of the
usatf so the breakdown that you have uh includes the breakdowns of everything as far as the track related items and also I can get
that on the second on the last of the after the engineers estimate which is $44,900 total there's a a sheet after that what's that 44 million 44 million
I'm sorry oh being being realist being optimistic yeah 44 m900 th000 excuse me uh there's a sheet after sheet page five5 where you can see where they break down the the what I call the
building facilities so that that um is a brand total of $2,630 so that um U for design construction that is but the actual I'm sorry areas
32,600 30 squ feet 24, 800,000 is the estimated construction cost which U they put back on page five of five come up with a 44 we'll call it $45 million for the for the usatf category 2 facility
and that includes all the track facilities except for the synthetic Synthetic Turf field which is lost inside the large oval running track so I'd like to bring up any questions that at this point that Council would
have that I can answer maybe and just some additional information um for Council and the public um it if we the thought behind going for the category 2 facility was so that we could attract outside events um
to be Revenue generating for the town we have been saving for a number of years for the um elevation and revamp of the track facility um but I think this was a little bit more than we anticipated with
$44 million um of renovations to meet the class 2 criteria um we'd also lose the baseball diamond as well as the football field in the middle of the track um and
those are big um draws and um very widely used in the community um so we did ask uh our Engineers to go back to the drawing board um and look at a lower class facility so we may be able to draw
some of those um other events but still um maintain those key elements of the facility that we need to and maybe not do all of the um upgrades in the interior um we also would lose a
significant portion up in the right um hand corner the crass section of JFK for um offices coaches offices and other facilities for that as well as the addition on the bottom end expansion to
the gymnasium so this will be a very significant project I think more than we anticipated that's correct and also again I can't emphasize parking is the big issue that we have right now we have
a I believe it was a 5,200 capacity bleachers on the left side and the parking that we have now wouldn't come close to you know to accommodating all those people right so that that would be a another Factor but
like you said mayor we're hoping to get some type of a response that would be more palatable to council so that we can come up with something that that um you know could could meet some of the minimum requirements and still you know give the community something to be proud
of right that's we're looking thank you Mr sh were there were there any other questions you want me to go through any of the other projects that I'm working on or it's up to you I have a list did anyone else have any questions on that on the track
comment thank you um as the engineers are going back uh redesigning um will you ask them to make sure I think it's will the council to preserve a football field so I know there are different options I know that they said they would look at other accrediting bodies other
than usatf right um but I think that uh something that's really important to us is we want to still have the turf field so whatever agencies they're going to use um we would need to figure out what what to do or where to place um the
football field because that was initially what we were looking at was the turfield then we had money to be able to fix the track and so we don't want to lose sight of of the turfield through the process so that's a minimum we have to have give us a nice
football field yes yeah so initially it was well it was all about just wellness and we had the turf fill for football we had the track where residents walk um we weren't doing meets and events out there but we were looking at if we're making the investment then is there an
opportunity to spend maybe a little more and have a greater return on investment um but we don't want to lose the the essential amenities that we traditionally provide the residents along the way so we still want to have a track for people to be able to walk on
we want a field that we could do football field hockey or whatever you know whatever those Sports may be out there I think if we reduce the site and get rid of some of the other I should say like you know not as popular like the javelin the shot put which take up a
lot of area I think you can probably accom you know a lot of the features that you want in there and still have a very high-end facility yeah you know and parking we could probably accommodate much more parking with that because we
can use up some of the space that's used up with some of these field events add parking in there right I guess it's a balance of um if we're able to do more and we can host events I think that's great but if not then we just want a nice facility for residents and not lose
what what we already have right I agree thank you thank you Mr Chapola if you could send the other project updates via email that would I can do that all right thanks councel thank you everybody thank you Mr Chapo also um we are in a
long-term uh project upgrading our Lighting in Willingboro to LED and I'm going to ask Mr lry our Deputy manager to come give a very brief update as to um what has been done and where we we are going in the very near
future good evening Mr Larry good evening mayor Deputy Mayor and the rest of the council members of the public um so as we've talked about for the last couple years last year or so um we're embarking on a Township wide lighting
program we started in Penny Packer Park first um to date um there has been 17 streets in Penny Packer that have been upgraded to LED lights I just drove around before I came into this meeting tonight uh to make sure that they were done Penny Packer is well lit on this
side um just uh this side over here so from uh starting at Beverly ran cookus um from pageant beginning at Beverly ran cookus um all the way to pageant to MLK everything on the left hand side has
been upgraded to LED lights I hope that is a better description than everything on this side moving to the other side um um I just submitted um an agreement with psng yesterday to um have nine
other streets um upgraded that will be phase three of our project in Penny Packer uh those streets include I can run through them very quickly a Pine Tree Lane Parkside Circle Penny Pack drive a portion of Penny Packer drive from MLK to um it looks like
parid par turn I'm sorry pen for Lane Parson Lane Pastoral Lane popler penwick P pwi excuse me um Pilgrim and those are the nine streets for phase three um additionally uh we began
another project to replace the lights on Veterans Parkway um that has multiple phases phase one has been complete that is one 32 sheffi Drive um that was 21 streets included in the project those streets have all been completed those
lights excuse me all 21 of those lights have been upgraded um they are moving forward with uh the next phase of that which is Sheffield to babbit I believe off the top of my head um PS has to work with the county for those um for that project just because you know County
permits it's the county road um beyond that we're going to continue on with this project we already finished the back parking lot here at the municipal complex there are three lights out that I observe uh tonight um I did report those to um our contact over at PG so that those could be uh replaced beyond
that that's all I have to share for the um the LED lighting project I'll take any questions if you have them any questions um Mr low I did have just one um as we're doing the LED lighting
project are they um still repairing the lights that are non-functional throughout the township Yes actually DPW just did a uh street light survey um with over over the last week um surveying the lights that are out in the community um they came back with a
substantial number of Lights um once those light numbers and fixtures are solidified um there were issues with the light numbers the poll numbers once we have those solidified um we'll make sure that they're reported um the way that they asked for it to be reported on
their site first and then we'll go back and reach out to our contacts and have those escalated so that they're repaired um in a timely fashion okay great thank you I do have one question um as it relates to the balls front of the Kenny Center and the and going through the park I know we had conversations some
time ago that the all the Ballers would be lit up um what's the status of that yeah so that's a project that DPW is undertaking because those are our lights um so we'll have to work with the public works public um to see where they I don't have an
update for you tonight okay but we can get you an update okay thank you y thank you Mr lry thank you thank you Mr lry so I will continue on with my report at this time um our finance uh Department the CFO and I are working to
prepare the 2025 Municipal budget for introduction we are shooting for later in March but no later than April the 1st um in in con Junction with that the annual financial statement has been forwarded to you for your review and
once again I believe it reaffirms uh willing Burrow's Financial stability in our Police Department we are currently at 71 sworn officers five of which are in the police academy uh again one has been on active duty since February 2022
the police are finalizing their installation of automatic license place readers funded by a $70,000 Grant uh the installation should begin shortly as we are a waiting approval from uh the
county uh the police again are also completing its reaccreditation program this happens every three years and uh it is unprecedented that Willingboro police department has been continuously accredited uh a continually accredited
department for 12 years there are only 31 law enforcement agencies out of 500 7 in New Jersey that have received the njso the njs a o p accreditation and
that stands for New Jersey something Chiefs of Police Association or New Jersey State Association of chiefs of police that's what it is did I get it right um in 2022 um Public Law 22
chapter 65 was signed into law which establish police licensing systems in the state of New Jersey this Law requires a licensing proc process with uniform standards and criteria for hiring firing and disciplining officers
some of these standards include passing physical examinations maintaining post Academy ongoing professional training um you know established by the PTC or the police training commission and and forbidding certain kind of contacts um
within the the police department uh willing burrow is in the process of relicensing 20 of its officers for 2025 and those licenses will be valid for the next three years and I believe
uh and correct me if I'm wrong Chief bucks that we are responsible for paying the initial $500 licensing fee but after that there are no charges for relicensing thank you uh all the
officers in the police department will begin their CPR certifications and the police are finalizing their transition to uh the new handguns that were funded through the 2024 capital budget and purchasing uh and implementation should
be finalized in the next two or three weeks in our fire and EMS departments we have two volunteers George Everett and Elicia Rivera who have completed or enrolled in the spring 2025 uh firefighter course which will be they
will be completing in June um these two individuals were participants in the previous youth fire academy and have gone on to join the department all of our fire and EML Personnel uh who needed to renew their CPR AED certification
completed those renewal last week all of our ambulances are back in service and just to note engine number 1613 has been having some service issues uh with the tank pump failing to go into pump mode during fire incidents this particular
unit is over 20 years old and we're going to need to consider making Provisions um to replace it over the next few Capital budgets in our Department of Public Works uh DPW has installed motion sensitive cameras at some of our fields
and parks that catch vandals and other persons that are engaged in illicit activities uh DPW has completed like Mr Lorry said um the survey of of lighting in the community um they also have been
out collecting uh trash cleaning up our streets um since we last reported they collected 18 bags of trash from our streets and are routinely emptying all of our newly installed Recycling and trash containers along various streets in willing Barrow Township and our Parks
as well uh because of the increased concern over the bird flu we are looking into mechanisms to curb the large number of geese that we see gathering at the JFK JFK and mil Creek Parks um I will remind
residents to be mindful of those droppings as the first case of bird flu has been identified in Burlington County uh and also DPW has been out they have repaired 41 potholes in the few days that we had acceptable weather we
know there are many more that need to be repaired however the Hot Patch is really most effective in 40 Dee weather or above so that's what we are really striving for those consistent 40 degree days in our inspections department all C
UCC clerks in the inspections department um are all technical assistant certified and licensed and I want to thank Mr tun for raising the standard for the clerks in his Department it increases their ability to understand interpret and apply the rules and regulations from an
array of appli able codes and standards incl including UCC laws construction code Electrical Plumbing and fire codes as well as increasing familiarity with many forms and formats required by the state of New Jersey to ensure compliance
with um the construction and related CL codes by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs so kudos to you Mr tunl and the members of your department for taking on this additional education and certifications um um as far as our
buildings and Facilities DPW will proceed with the installing the water softeners for the boilers at JFK we did receive a second quote from faska mechanical which is about $2,000 less than what Hutchinson had quot so we are
waiting to schedule the final installations and again at the suggestion of our engineer re re-evaluated the previous quote to provide fixes to the roof leaks over the gym at the J FK Center the re the reassessment reflected that the original
quote to repair 1,000 square ft uh was ins insufficient to address all of the leaks and although they would have addressed some of the primary leak issues uh we are looking to expand the coverage area for repairs from 1,000 ft
to 5,000 ft and probably require it will probably be required to go out to bid because that would be about an additional $20,000 in expenses or $330,000 in expenses unless we provide or unless one of the providers is under state or
national Co-op contracts in our Department of Community Affairs Community Affairs will be providing tax preparation services for Willingboro residents who may need assistance with their 2024 taxes the services offered in partnership with
AARP and if any residents wish to take advantage of it um and it's only being provided on Wednesdays By Appointment uh I encourage you to please call the senior center as soon as possible to make appointments as they are receiving
hundreds of requests and the time slots are filling up relatively quickly um at this time I'm going to ask Miss Jackson if she will come and give us a a summation of the activities going on in Willingboro if any over the next
few weeks Miss Jackson thank you good evening mayor Deputy Mayor members of council and all those assembled in the spirit of women's History Month on Saturday March 8th the Willingboro Public Library will be
hosting a special in presentation entitled wh Willingboro women in action and that's featuring two of our Township leaders mayor Whitfield and Deputy Mayor worthy so please plan to join us on Saturday at 2 pm. for this special event
and and invite others to join it is a free event but registration is requested we're also accepting nominations for this year's phenomenal women Awards event which will take place on Sunday April 27th if you know of a woman who is making an impact in the areas of
Education Business and Entrepreneurship government or social advocacy consider nomin her for this year's phenomenal women Awards event the deadline for nominations is next Friday March 12th
and speaking of March no Friday March 14th I'm sorry right is it the 14th 12 12th a Wednesday March 12th okay I'm sorry the deadline for nominations is Wednesday March 12th and then on Friday March 14th at noon we will um be the
willbo Town Center will be hosting an official ribbon cutting ceremony for our new neighbors at Starbucks or welcome our our renewed Neighbors at Starbucks so all are encouraged to intend ribbon cutting um or stop by um Starbucks for a cup of joe or a bite to eat and join us
in welcoming Starbucks back to the community and then on the following day which is Saturday March 15 we will be serving as the host for the black Family Wellness Expo we're one of um many partners that will be a part of this event and it will be held from 12: to 3:
at the Kennedy Center and it'll be a day including um great health information Wellness Resources some screenings and other great interactive activities so that is our activities for March as always this information is on our website social media YouTube and by
subscribing to William bro wi thank you yes ma'am can you repeat the time for the grand opening for the Starbucks it's at 12 o'clock next Friday March 14th thank you any other questions all right thank you so much thank you Miss Jackson and
that concludes my report for this evening man all right any questions on the manager's report comments yes thank you Madame mayor um Mr Harris um I didn't hear you go through it but I know we did get the
zoning um report um which I appreciate with the new businesses and request for interpretation and was wondering if the future iterations could put the the timeline so we have an idea of um when it was generated like what you know what timeline does that cover I know it says
new businesses um but there are businesses that are new that aren't there so I'm just if we could just continue to work on I think the format of it but I do appreciate um having that information so thank you for sharing that and my apologies I did have them send it to you in an email but I did not
receive it in time to incorporate it for my report this evening but I didn't want you to wait to weeks to have the the information I appreciate it thank you very much thank you Madame mayor no problem any other questions or comments um I just have one um as a
followup from our last meeting are we still work are we did we start working on the ordinance um for um code enforcement in terms of the garbage cans um we did have Mr Johnson yes we have been having uh discussions behind that
okay we have some some issues that we're gonna have to work out and um is going to take some considerations and concessions uh from the council so when we get all those little glitches um and then we'll bring something to you uh to to approve or not approve okay thank you
very much thank you man or exm former man all right well thank you um Mr Harris for your report um we will go on to the resolutions overview so the resolutions there are no ordinances being presented to you this evening the resolution is being presented to you is
a resolution number 65 which is a resolution authorizing the approval of bills uh for the month of or for the first meeting in the month of March so we can meet our financial obligations for services provided from various vendors or Professionals in willing
Barrow resolution number 66 is a resolution um providing the appointment of an Oprah attorney we are looking to reappoint laio peruchi stanach Kali and Tipton LLC as the Township's Opa
attorneys for the rest of the uh calendar year 2025 resolution number 67 is a resolution authorizing the overpayment of taxes um these are usually occur when a homeowner or mortgage or company or
title company sometimes a buyer or sellers receive credits on their account or sometimes they pay they make duplicate tax payments so again or receive um disability uh credits so we are just refunding to uh the rightful
persons um those monies if they are requested resolution number 68 is authorizing I'm sorry we're not going to address resolution number 68 this evening um so we're going to ask that that one just be um put off or
reconsidered at another time resolution number 69 is a resolution authorizing change order number 13 uh for the contract with Levy construction company uh for the Willingboro performing arts center phase
one res renovation this resolution is recommending the approval of a change order to Levy construction for additional work to return to the site to remeasure and redesign uh duck work shop
drawings um per the the duct work design there was some modifications to the initial design which required the um contractor to come out and remeasure the duct work and they charged us uh an additional 3,00
1,171 to uh do that remeasurement resolution number 70 is a resolution of the township of willing Barrow um authorizing execution of Professional Service agreements for the
not to exceed um amounts as determined this resolution is authorizing or establishing not to exceed amounts for professionals appointed to various uh Services throughout the year of of 202 25 and these are the amounts that we
expect to spend or on our pay our professionals and that's why we are setting these not to exceed amounts resolution number 71 is a resolution authorizing an increase in the not to exceed amount for
Matthew is it Wesco Wesco from zeler and uh Wesco LLP for the provision of Zoning Board of adjustment solicitor service is for Willing Barrow we are asking for an additional 10,000 as requested by the
township clerk's office to uh finalize and pay out all of the 2024 unpaid bills and invoices resolution number 72 is a resolution of the township authorizing a contract with certain approved um
Burlington County cooperative pricing system vendors for the contract uh uh for the contract year of 2025 this particular contract is for the purchase of assault or
DPW um to replenish what we have used so far this year and increase our reserves for hopefully next year because we're done with the with the weather right I hope so I hope so so that not to exceed amount is
$43,000 resolution number 73 is asking you to accept the uh the tax collector's annual report uh the tax collector is required by law to provide a report to the governing body of the activities in the tax collector's offices and as you
can see the uh report includes collections balances tax levies and I did ask her to go back and modify this report to include all open Municipal leans that are um struck or or being held by Willingboro Township so you have
that information as well so you can move forward with uh your planning as we move through 2025 to address these outstanding lean balances and finally being prevented for your consideration is resolution number 74 appointing um
certain individuals to uh boards and commissions um for the request of the mayor and those are all the items being presented to you for your consideration this evening thank you Mr Harris um Council
are there any resolutions that you would like to pull from our consent agenda I'm looking at resolution 22568 to pull as well as 73 and 74 Madame mayor it was my understanding
that 68 was pulled from the agenda for this this evening can we just clarify that for the record it it's pulled I think we need to table it because it's on the agenda or can we just strike it table it okay thank you any other
resolutions okay all right now we will go to public comment public comment is for 2 minutes on agenda items only if you'd like to speak please raise your hand online um or come up to the microphone in the room you will have two
minutes please state your name and address public comment is now open James is there any public comment online uh mayor I do not see any public comments online thank you
we have one miss Carman okay you can take that one hi can you hear me yes ma'am hi it's Carmen uh Carmen Guan 7 Country Club Road in Willingboro and uh is
the the building of this um the sports facilities is on the agenda for today just wanted to confirm yes we did um review it but it's not on the agenda as we don't want that building about the one
that oh okay can you read my comments from the YouTube because I'm looks like I'm the only person who commented um we don't take comments from the YouTube but um if you'd like to voice your comment certainly so
I said that whole thing about um messing up the area over here by country cloud is not a good idea don't know whose idea that was there's other places that are much better that are in space that has a track and stuff that you guys can rebuild down by the high school there
also over by JFK name add my name is Al McLoud and I'm in Country Club okay thank you yeah none of my name neighbors I don't know if they're on here as well if they're in a comment but none of us are
interested in having a parking lot like messing up the area you guys need to plant more trees all of um the trees that have been down sir I think the um track facility you're talking about is the one for the school board it's not the one that we discussed
at this meeting we heard something the one we saw earlier it's like some planning it looks like we saw a map CER okay we I'm sorry that's why I was confused we were asking about the uh uh the build that is planned for around
country club by the Board of Education building yep that's it yes that that one has a town hall tomorrow um but if you would like to voice your concern you can come back at the second um public comment okay well if if we can okay and
then the trees are apparently not part of the agenda although we have voiced our concerned about the trees being planted where the soil quality is being affected by all the trees being removed yes ma'am at the second
public okay so that's tomorrow no it will be at the second public comment at this meeting oh okay all right I'll wait for that is for agenda items only okay thank you all right and seeing none other public
comment is now closed all right um Council I'd like to ask for a motion for consent agenda for Resolutions 202- 65 through 2025
-67 and 2025 69 through 2025 5 -72 so second second moved by councilwoman Peron seconded by Deputy Mayor Deputy Mayor worthy Council perone yes councilman
Anderson yes councilwoman Macintosh yes Deputy Mayor Dr worthy yes mayor Whitfield yes thank you I'd like to ask for a motion to approve the consent agenda second moved by councilman
Anderson seconded by Deputy Mayor worthy roll call Council Peron yes councilman Anderson yes councilwoman Macintosh yes Deputy Mayor Dr worthy yes mayor Whitfield yes thank you resolution 2025
D68 I move to table resolution 2025 D68 second moved by mayor Whitfield seconded by councilwoman pon roll call would you like me to read it by title for the record oh yes um all
right so resolution 2025 68 um is titled resolution authorizing a redemption in installments for municipal lean 16- 00301 and um we are motioning to table it
yes roll call councilman perone yes councilman Anderson yes Council woman Macintosh yes Deputy Mayor Dr worthy yes mayor Whitfield yes thank you the next resolution um for discussion is resolution
22573 resolution accepting the tax collector's annual report can I get a motion in a second who Moved second moved by councilman Anderson seconded by councilwoman McIntosh
discussion um Mr Harris I was wondering if uh our tax collector would be able to give an overview of the report good evening Miss Aro good evening um you want to overview um it's basically just um everything that was
collected from the tax office throughout the year it's all um like the credit cards and the checks and everything that was collected online um a break down of um the
uh you know because we collect for school County and okay are there any numbers in particular that um if you could talk about like our collection rate and um the rate um basically comes from the
county um we do do an estimated tax rate before this rate is struck off and it's usually like around about the same amount it might be like a little bit less or a little bit more the rate for um 2024 was actually like a little bit um less than the actual rate that we've
received so when the um the tax rate finally Struck it um had to pay a little bit more in that fourth quarter um but that's basically the the tax rate
and what percentage are we um collecting taxes at um just like the overall collection rate right um the percentage of people that for 2024 was 9699 and that was up from the past few years correct
yes all right any other questions on the tax assessor report or the tax collector's report just a quick question so what happens when taxes are not being paid and then everything backs up and then it comes to the attention of
council years later who makes that decision to allow those taxes not to be collected um basically we we don't really have control over people that you know don't want to pay their taxes the only thing that we can do is have a tax
so they do go to tax sell on a yearly if they don't pay like for example um if anybody hasn't paid their 2024 taxes by October of this year by basically by September of this year they go to tax sale in October right so but there there
have been some properties that have not gone to tax sale that we just seem to hold on to these leans the only people that don't go to tax sell are um people that are in bankruptcy so if they have a bankruptcy against their property they can't go to tax out anybody else goes
the tax up okay thank you for the clarification you're welcome um and also I want to thank you Miss Arnold for the um leans the list of open leans I think that will help us in our efforts to um increase the economic
development in town so thank you for that yes you're welcome yeah Miss Arnold I had a question about the leans that were struck off to the township okay and I see some of them have it'll be the same property with multiple certificates can you elaborate on
that some of them had multiple certificate yes so oh yes yes um if an outside Lan holder isn't doing what they're supposed to do like they have a certain time frame to foreclose if they don't foreclose Clos um another Lan holder can come in so they can take over
anything that other lane holder hasn't did so they're supposed to foreclose within the five years if they don't then sometimes Municipal leans even get struck on there after the other landh holders hav um forcl so then we'll have a lean against the property as well okay
so for instance on one of the properties um I'm okay certificate number 19- four zos and then two and then there's one 19 four zeros and then three it's the same property two
certificates so Willingboro has the municipality has can you that's what I'm talking about can you explain that I'm just unclear okay so with this right here is these are like right the municipal leans
that um buoro hasn't foreclosed on so I guess at that time they didn't have any interest in this property so whenever whenever they have like an interest in the property that's when they'll foreclose on the the certificate like
you can have an inim foreclosure okay um I believe you have one in place now but I don't think these were on there I'm not sure I would have to look back to see if these um particular certificates were on that list okay I don't believe
so but I think it was it's three properties but I'm not sure what actual certificates they were okay I just thought that if it was one property it would be one a singular Municipal lean on a property but it
appears that there are multiple Municipal leans on a single property for this particular property they have um a qualifier so that's a different like it's one owner that's um like you know where Country Club Plaza is um like
Dunkin' Donuts has a qualifier oh understand okay different sues different right so this is it's the same address but they have um different units different owners okay understood thank you so much Miss Arnold you're welcome and also Dr worthy if if I may
just because a property goes to tax sale and we require a lean through a tax sale that does not absolve them from paying future taxes okay and they could essentially go back out to tax sale a second time for subsequent unpaid tax
taxes so it could result in multiple Deans on the same property thank you okay all right any other questions for Miss Arnold thank you Miss Arnold for your report you're welcome thank
you madam clerk roll call councilwoman perone yes councilman Anderson yes councilwoman Macintosh yes deputy mayor Dr worthy yes mayor Whitfield yes thank you um and our final resolution for
discussion this evening is 2025 74 resolution of the township of Willingboro County of Burlington state of New Jersey appointing members to various boards and commission moved second moved by councilman Peron seconded by councilman Anderson
discussion we had two residents that had um put in applications M Dr Denise King for the economic development committee as a business um position as well as
Christine fala for a youth advisory resident position and the parade and events committee as a resident position are there any objections to those appointments all right um just for the
record we just got um Dr King's citizen leadership form today so she's not on the resolution so I will put her on the resolution okay um so with that being said can uh um we already motion and second um roll call Council Peron yes
councilman Anderson yes councilwoman Macintosh yes Deputy Mayor Dr worthy yes mayor Whitfield yes thank you treasur report oh madame mayor before we move on still had a question it wasn't about the appointments okay but with the boards
and commissions what is the process when we have board members who Miss consecutive meetings um is there something that we have that we can share with the Committees so if it's three consecutive meetings they get removed after the second one can they be notified is there a process we could put
in place um I can actually talk with that question it's actually one of our codes um it is under I don't have the number currently um I can email it to you tomorrow but it's our code that defines our boards and commissions rules and regulations and it says that they are
not you can't have more than three consecutive missing correct yeah what I guess what I'm asking is can we make sure we can uh provide that to the chair chairpersons of these boards okay and what happens is once they get two consecutive absences will it be the
responsibility of the chairman to send them notification or would the notification come from the clerk's office the Township Clerk that's you know once we figure that out but that was a question that came up in my meeting last night thank you councilman Anderson thank
you and now we'll move on to the treur report can I get a mo sorry can I get a motion a second to approve the treasurer's report dated February 24th 2025 don't move second moved by councilman Anderson
seconded by councilwoman McIntosh roll call councilwoman perone yes councilman Anderson yes councilwoman Macintosh yes Deputy Mayor Dr worthy yes mayor Whitfield yes thank you can I get a motion a second to
approve the meeting minutes and executive session minutes from February 18th 2025 so moved second moved by councilman Anderson seconded by Deputy Mayor worthy Council Peron yes councilman
Anderson yes councilwoman Macintosh yes Deputy Mayor Dr worthy yes mayor Whitfield yes thank you municipal clerk up dayses Madam clerk um so for my updates this evening I wanted to bring to everyone's attention that the um
Board of Education special election is a week from today March 11th 2025 from 6 am. to 8:00 p.m. at all of our polling locations um so you don't have to change um your polling lo location depending on your District they're all open you're just going to go to your regular one if
you don't know um or if you are unsure about your polling location or your voting district let me know and we will be able to help you out um there is one more um town hall meeting being held by the board of
education at the Willingboro high school tomorrow tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. to get any last minute questions you have answered um regarding the ref referendum being presented on the ballot um and then also for the primary election in
June I have some updates on that um the deadline for filing a petition to run for local office like I mentioned last time is March 24th 2025 at 4 p.m. there were St uh new state requirements regarding signature minimums along with
a new petition that was released by the county so if anyone's interested I have hard copies um that were um sent by the county just a couple weeks ago those are the most updated ones um in my office that I can get to anyone um some other
important dates that I'm sure I will ingrain to into your brains over the next couple months um primary election is June 10th 2025 from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. not June 3rd it was June 3rd and then the governor um switched it to
observe a Jewish holiday so is June 10th officially voter registration deadline for primary election is May 20th 2025 the deadline to apply for the vote by mail and ballot by mail is June 3D but you can apply in person for a vote by
mail and ballot all the way up to June 9th um early voting will be June 6th through June 8th and I'm still working with the county to confirm if we're we will be utilizing the library again um but I will definitely keep you updated on that um and of course I'm going to be
communicating with our Communications to make sure all the information is on the website and post on social media in the next couple months and again I will be saying these dates every single time so they will be engrained into your brain um moving on I wanted to give the
council a little update on a digitization project that the clerk's office is um working on at the moment so we are at the starting point to um you know bring the contractor in
um so the clerk's office is going to undergo an extensive extensive digitization project in the next couple months that will be ongoing for the next several years we we will be starting with the locally stored file in the clerk's office and slowly migrate over
to the archived files in the library there are a lot of them um in the library basement specifically I know council's been advocating for this for the past couple years so I'm excited to start this project due to its extensive scope of work and the price that has
been quoted um it will be over five years um the price we're looking at right now is $177,900 however I've been actively applying to a grant through FEMA called The Brick Grant um brick stands for building resilience infrastructure and
communities um the goal of this this grant is to help local governments um and communities digitize um different types of Records um that have the potential of being damaged in an environment that they are currently being stored in I'm applying for this
grant to digitize um the two huge cages of Planning and Zoning Board records we have down at the um uh Library basement that was over half of our um quote of the digitization it's just there's you
know it's zoning and planning board uh application so they're big plans um they end their permanent records so we have to hold on to them forever so this is a way to um do that there is a precedent to reive this grant for
Planning and Zoning Board documents ocean um Ocean Grove ocean Port I'm sorry um actually just re received this for Planning and Zoning documents and if we are awarded this grant grant it will take our project from $17 7,000 like I stated to this to
70,000 um which will ease um some of our financial B burdens and also um we'll hopefully get the projects done sooner um the thought of the process of digitizing both present and past records is to help not only the clerk's office but the rest of the
township and its residents to make these records more accessible to everyone so that's a little on that um and then finally we have finished our second round interviews for our Deputy Clerk um we have one candidate in mind that I think will will fit well into our office
and um she seems like she'll really help Implement a lot of the initiatives we've started in the office in the last couple months um I'm hoping to appoint her at our next meeting and um have her start sometime in late March and that is
my updates for today thank you madam clerk are there any questions or comments mayor if if I may if if that is a project going to be undertaken by the clerk's office and and I congratulate you on taking on that uh massive project
over the next five years um that would need to be whatever the the dollar amount is would need to be included in our operating budget so please give me whatever dollars that you think we're going to spend in 2025 to miss UIA so she can make sure the monies are
available in your budget for that operation thank you um I do have the first year already integrated into the budget that I sent her thank you just one that's thank you one question for clarity with regards to the
100 um K figure is that um split up into five years is that a total yeah so it's sorry um it will be around 30,000 for the first two years and then 40,000 for the last three years um and that's kind of how we broke it up but yes it's 177
altogether now each year okay and then once it's completed in the 5 years is it it still will be a fee for every year at 30,000 or 40,000 is that um there is an annual fee I believe off the top of my head it's like $500 a year and that's just to maintain our um like digital um
cloud-based filing system but it won't be anywhere near significant as that $40,000 fee that is really just um da take all of our archived files and get them digitized digitized and then one
other question so is this going to be like a special program that we're using that where you can access it like will there be some Office training for the council or for the staff yes so there is going to be um Office training once we have the initial um
files digitized they're going to come in and they're going to do a zoom training with us and um it's actually set up for all of council to have their own login so you will have access to all of the files
um just as much as we will so but yes there will be training to learn all those awesome goodies good work thank you Council McIntosh yes um just some concerns being raised um by residents um concerning solicitors and vendors
knocking on the doors um is it possible that you know during the council meetings we can get an update on who's been approved approved yeah uh like for solicitor permits and vendor permits because I'm getting a lot of complaints that um
people are showing up at people's doors without presenting these licenses and so if you know at least council's aware of who's coming or who's been approved um yes I do put it in our monthly um my monthly report to you guys
but yes I can um definitely put something in my clerk report to present may you just want to know who's authorized to operate within a Township I appreciate that and Mr harriswood um what is the procedure what will be the
best procedure for a resident to take if someone shows up at their door and doesn't have a license call the police all the police Andrew good thank you all right any other questions or comments on the clerk report
all right moving along to unfinished business um as we discussed last time we are scheduled to have a golf outing in May of this year I believe councilman Anderson you are giving the report for that update uh yes so we have um back in
I guess November the township has authorized an MOA to partner with new New Foundation uh because the township could not take it funds the uh partnership is with the 501c3 and it's on it a year-by-year
basis so it's not permanent for this initial event the purpose of this golf event is to raise scholarship dollars for the children for the seniors of Willingboro they don't just have to go to the Willingboro School District they
can go out of District as long as they're resident so we were just looking for a way to give back uh bring some you know bring some more activities to the community the school district did one I believe last year was their initial and it was a good thought uh so we looked at
taking on the Endeavor on trying to replicate that just to provide more resources for those kids you know who were trying to go to the next level so right now the scheduled date is Thursday May 29th that's and then there's a rain date
of Thursday June 5th in case it's raining too hard they have allotted us an opportunity uh to do it the following week the location will be at the Beverly ran cookus Golf Course the event will host 144 golfers
at $125 per person which will generate $188,000 towards the event there will also be activities for non- golfers uh which would include golf lessons at a cost of $65 per person uh that will also include a continental breakfast box
lunch dinner and ENT entertainment on the marketing side what has been done thus far through the uh committee that nno has put together is the marketing event uh the marketing for this event has already begun information has been sent out to newno foundation's
golf database of members bever ran cokus Golf Course has shared this information with their database of members which also includes two other golf courses that they own gold golden feasant and the link uh it's also been shared with the Divine n organ ganizations local
businesses and Township professionals this information will Al this event will also be promoted on 105.3 FM the under the entertainment side uh we are currently under contract with
Miss Mimi Brown she's one of the host of 105.3 she's going to come out to host the whole event give us um some airtime a marketing event for us uh we will also have a DJ uh that will play music at the
uh venue as well food vendors we're in the process of reviewing our food vendor proposals uh getting some final questions answered scholarship applications uh scholarship application outlining the criteria has has been completed and is
ready to be distributed so that the students you know um have more than enough time to apply uh the committee uh will go through the criterias as the applications come in just to identify which students you know will be uh which
students qualify for the scholarship dollars um sponsorships we've been working with a a young lady she's actually the committee chair Miss Janice Peppers uh she's been in the entertainment business for some time and has a plethora of relationships so
through her contacts personal contacts and relationships we reached out to Red Bull she spoken to our contacts at Red Bull Bank of America TD Bank rayac hair products the AIO which is one of the largest liquor companies in the world finway with to the wine company and
Kramer Distributors is a huge beer company they distribute into nationally as well as always best core Coca-Cola David learner and Associates Davis Honda Verizon Wireless Metro PCS uh wisf virtual Hospital New Jersey
Lottery internet radio State Farm Johnson Ford Roots distributor cure Leaf rans spear acent attorney zenleaf Acme burington Kia buron Chevy word radio Lowe's and psng commitments have already come back
uh confirming that they're in from TD Bank psng Virtua Pepsi Roots distri distribution viio and cran so we had we had the opportunity to have a meeting with the township with the beer vendor
with the wine vendor and the liquor distributor so during the course of the meeting they were all very much interested not just in the golf tournament but the golf tournament was a way for them to get to the Jazz Fest because what we understand and we're trying to think outside the box for many years we've been putting money into this
Jazz Fest but have not been getting anything out but now we're looking at restructuring so they were very much interested where to the point where they're looking at a commitment of $50,000 for JazzFest the golf course has just
received their liquor license as of last week and so they're could they're looking at possibly being a title sponsor for that event but once again you know we're trying to make ways to think outside the box to generate money and like I said the way we're pitching this to a lot of these sponsors we know
you want to get to that jet Fest because that's a huge venue of people but we want to see the community give back it's not always about the money participate at the community level then work with us to get to the next level so that's how we uh have been promoting this so so far funds received from McManaman Scotland
and Bowman of 1625 then also we received a check from Bowman and Company 4,000 for a total of 2625 funds have been distributed to Mimi Brown a deposit of 12250 which is half
of what her cost is her cost is 2500 she needed 12 1250 to put it on her calendar as of March 1st so we've taken care of that uh there is new new there's an administration fee of 10% which was 26250 which leaves a balance of
$112.50 right now the anticipated golf fees would be the golf course green fees which go to the golf course that's $7,200 so out of the 125 we're charging per golfer they get $50 of that so the profit would be $75
uh Mimi Brown was 25 the DJ is 650 for all day the food vendor is uh wouldn't be no more than 6,000 right now it's I think 55 57 within that range and then I put down here uh miscellaneous 3650 just round it off to 20,000 in case there are
things that extra things that we need to get that we haven't accounted for as we're still in the process of laying everything out um volunteers the committee will solicit volunteers to setup and cleanup of the event and the
only not even a challenge but one of the questions that came up was regarding seed money if there was an opportunity to receive seed money if is there an opportunity to receive seed money if needed These funds would be paid back prior to any distribution of scholarship funds but as it sits right now with the
food vendor the DJ they're looking to be paid the day of the event so we really don't have anything to put out and that's the same relationship we're working out with the golf course for their fee that's the updated report as of now uh I believe moving forward we
will be getting I believe weekly Financial reports as the money start to come in as far as the golf registrations golfers right now is still early in the season golfers usually wait until possibly April the beginning of May then they start jumping on board but we have
solicited to more than enough golf courses and opportunities that filling the 144 spots won't be an issue nor will it be the $10,000 identified to giving out the scholarship so that's the update uh to this
point Thank You councilman Anderson any questions or comments on the golf outing report Deputy Mayor worthy thank you um councilman Anderson I was wondering in terms of when um the financials would
come in I know that commitments were made um some verbal some correspondence has been exchanged have any of the sponsors been able to share a timeline of when they think they'll be able to um distribute the funds Bank virtual hosital Pepi
Roots Roots distribution the FR or would be looking to have their money in within the next three weeks but they committed to it this has to go through the process proc of getting the okay thank you and then um I think you I just wanted to confirm you said
for the food they don't need a deposit they're willing to take the money the day of the day I believe no I'm sorry one of that they do the day of the other one dep like May 15 two weeks out okay this way they have the proper head but
right now I think we're playing with 150 to 200 people but they said it's Clos to give us a propit head C then two weeks out they request okay so based on the conversations with the the sponsors and when the vendors want the
money do you anticipate being able the golf event being able to cover all of its expenses yes we we anticipate that but we also wanted to know if we needed to I mean at this point it doesn't look like it but we wanted to know what the process would be for seed money and as I
indicated those would be paid back uh prior to the district the distribution of any scholarship value but right now we look like we're good but we just want to know what the process is what the time frame would be
okay thank you very much all right um Mr Harris do you have any insight on what that process would be for requesting seed money a deeper com conversation with the CFO and when you see say seed money what
do you mean by seed money just giving uh an amount to the new New Foundation are you are you talking about maybe covering the deposit for the the caterer so we would just need some clarity as to what that seed money encompasses and then that will further dictate um how we
would go about issuing those seed money okay yeah so to that point I mean if it's a situation and the township is willing to right to that vendor that's that's fine we're just you know seeing if there's availability and where the resources are based on us not passing
the budget for this year so we just wanted to put it out there but right now we do not anticipate it would be in a case of emergency situation we just want to line it up as a backup all right thank you councilman Anderson any other questions on that no
moving on to new business is there any new business I had one item of new business um so we are getting more reports um and questions concern from residents about
the group homes that are located in Country Club the overabundance of group homes that are located in Country Club um we did previously investigate if there were ways that we would be able to limit the number of group homes that
were present um in the township ship um at that time there was no um way that we would be able to do that but at the league of municipalities I did speak to um Mr Platt who is our special counsel
this year um and he said he had some ideas on ways that we could um limit that as willing bro is shouldering a disproportionate share of group homes in the area um I'd like to ask for Council
support to engage uh the plat group on investigating how we would be able to move forward or um limit the number of group homes in the area I support that I support it all right thank you Council for your
support on that and may I ask a question oh no no go ahead had a question on that could he also I don't know if he would be the right professional but I know that um we get inundated with quest for um Convenience Stores um yes I'll leave convenience
stores and just curious if there was a way to really consider how many and how far apart there's a consideration for yet another one on this come in so if he could I don't know if he would be the right professional that could look at that as well okay I will ask thank you I wanted
to go back to the group home question uh as he's looking at this is there any way we can limit the number of group home on any one given block okay because some blocks have two and three so I don't yeah so is there any way we can look at
that okay I think that that's a good call out councilman Anderson I will add that to the discussion councilman McIntosh just back back off the Dr worthy um that convenience also they SL trying to get a lot of
those a new one coming up there by McDonald okay I will add those all into the discussion um with Mr plat any other new business being none we will move on to
public comment this public comment is for all issues um public comment is 4 minutes if you would like to speak of public comment please raise your hand online or come up to the microphone in the room again you'll have four minutes
please state your name and address for the record public comment is now open Maddie mallerie good evening Miss mallerie uh good evening Maddie mallerie Hudson
Place um I don't know if it's me or what but I have difficulty hearing uh council members um when they speak and um also Mr Harris so I don't know if it's the
mic the microphones or if it's my computer um but it's you know very difficult to hear them um I tuned in late so I'm not sure there was a discussion about the calendars but I thought we were supposed
to get the calendars uh mid-February so uh just anxious to know and the other thing is it's unfortunate that the uh school board meeting is
tomorrow uh because tomorrow is Ash Wednesday and uh some of us do uh re recogniz Ash Wednesday and we have services so I think it's unfortunate that they did not plan their final
meeting uh with that in mind uh because you know I for one was one of the persons that would have uh liked to have attend but I won't be able to because of my commitment to Ash Wednesday and that concludes my
comments for this evening thank you Miss mallerie we have one in the room good evening Ashley not twigling um I'm here because I'm having a tree is in my backyard two weeks ago believe President's Day the major Windstorm on
Sunday to give a visual where my house is there's about maybe 10 massive pine trees that line the side of my Street one of the massive pine trees fell barely missed my house and barely missed my neighbor
$10,000 evvc fence so where the tree is there is a burn in the back of my house usually the township puts the burn in to prevent flooding from the houses that are behind me that are lower elevation went to inspections department about two
weeks ago I will say that they were very efficient they came out they looked at it they were honest they said we're not Tree Experts we don't know whether this is our property our easement or the Township's property when they looked at the tax maps it's not showing the burm
at all um I emailed Mr Harris Mr Chapman Mr tonsil Mr Harris and Mr Chapman did get back to me they said that it's my responsibility I kind of have to respectfully disagree with that at that point because in speaking with WM chair
Miss lindsy Harvey and former mayor knock they said that that is should be a Township easement because of the BM and I also have a utility box back there we don't know whether it's an electrical box or whether it's a cable box but
whatever that box is it's a huge box which means it's a trunk line which feeds my entire um neighborhood I have the number of the box if you want that you guys want the number of the Box sure okay um number of
the Box let's see so the number of the box is 3133 so I'm saying that it could be the township because of where it's located um and also the wmua said there's a high
possibility that the sewer line is in that BM also because my sewer L is in the back of the house and not the front so right now the tree is laying in my backyard it looks like a forest back there um it's massive and then the tree next to it it's holding on for dear life
you can see it from the street where it's going to fall with the next Wing Gus if it falls it's hitting my house and the fence so I'm just asking if we can do a deeper dive into this since it's not showing on the tax mat to figure out whose actual responsibility
it is to to remove the tree that has fell and the one that's dangerously leaning thank you Miss KN good evening good evening Jamal X Harris 10 pad o Lane um I'm on this side of Penny Packer
and the LEDs are great thank you um and also right massive track and field Legacy in Willingboro in the track and field world my wife and I were D1 track and field athletes so the brand of Willingboro in the track and field world
is Elite track athletes so just wanted to put that on the record um also uh some cats like the gang in Tom and Jerry about three of them recently set up shop on my block wanted to call that out as well um I've been a homeowner for about
four and a half years and willing bur third generation Willingboro resident paternal side um drawn back to Willingboro because of his proud history as diverse neighbors and abundant potential um this year just this year I got involved with the economic
development committee as a business I'll be sworn in tonight thanks Samantha um I dialed in through Google meet to the most recent ele economic development committee meeting driving back from the Midwest this past Monday uh and I just wanted wanted to say what stood out was
the amount of energy the amount of collective intellectual horsepower and the self-awareness and the historical context that the group has put together um they sent out some great documents and I've been trying to cram all of that
information but just the idea of knowing that we need to get better data driven insights in order to inform the council was a big part of the conversation um given I have a background and operations management and Tech uh data good data
leads to good insights which leads to great actions so I'm just really happy to be involved with the committee um working hand inand with the committee we want to chart a path of course that brings in new business without forgetting the local ones that have
stood by us for years um over there in Eastgate Plaza there's a pizza shop that my father he's lived in Willingboro since the 80s maintains that is the best pizza in New Jersey right and they just say Yep they're baring witness so we don't want
to forget about the folks that have created great memories and added Great Value to the community along the way while we try to attract better uh more business and more resources advocate for our families and really just focus on
what truly matters which is safe neighborhoods quality jobs a sense of togetherness and of course enabling dollars to circulate in this community that's the key so I'm excited
and I just wanted to stand up here today before I get sworn in after this meeting and say that I'm excited to be a part of the committee and I just wanted to let the public know that there's folks with a lot of energy a lot of expertise folks that are involved with other municipalities that want to come in
bring some great ideas and some great best practices to the table so we can make a difference um I heard some great things about uh public private Partnerships that's part of what I do in my business I work with sort of venture capital folks that are very interested in finding great opportunities in
municipalities and backing them um so I'm excited and I wanted to let you all know you should be excited too so thanks for your time thank you Mr Harris my name is Barbara Williams I'm from
ritten House Park and I'm here to find out and I'm glad he brought up his hats that are in his neighborhood last month you had friends who offered
to help with the c situation um I'm wondering what your reply was to them because it is a very good group um they have been successful and it's not
just friends it's other rescues that do TNR where they trap neuter and return them back to the community they do um spading and neutering they also give them Raby shots
they also put them up for adoptions if they're friendly um and the rat um the cats also help to control and there has been issues with rats here in Willingboro so they're beneficial to us they're not
just pains they're very helpful um and I would like to know if you're accepting yes they are they're very helpful um I would like to know if you're accepting their offer to come in because they said it
would be no cost to Willingboro they have grants for that and another issue I'd like to address uh are recycling bins in Willingboro you have elderly people who cannot handle those
huge recycling they ask for the smaller ones those smaller ones are available I've seen them there in Willingboro to some of the residents and if you're a single person you don't need need the large one you're a couple you don't need
the large one there's a elderly lady who lives at 70 Written House Drive she's almost fallen trying to get that huge Recycling and the huge trash because she keeps it inside her house and she tries to will
it out so I know that when I first got involved in this a year ago in February I was told by the recycling director herself that the smaller recycling bins
were available and I want to know why some people can get them and others cannot it's our tax dollars we're paying for it we should be able to get what we want uh Also regarding that same lady and maybe you can help her with this
issue she's handicapped she needs handicapped parking given to her she's addressed it to the Association and nothing has been done so can you do something to help
her and it's not just her it's other seniors who are having problems with needing a handicapped spot so if you can address those issues and again if you can let me know what's going on with because there are other people after the
friends um spokesperson stood up and mentioned that they wanted to come in and offer their assistance other people wanted to speak on that but you didn't give them a chance because they had already spoke like I said it's very beneficial you can speak with other
Township how it's reducing the population and again the cats are very helpful they control the rat population and with all the development that's been done the rats are out I'm a witness to that because
tree was pulled down next to me that was causing water damage in my house and the contractor found that there were lots of rats mice in the roots of your time is up thank you thank you Miss Williams good evening my name is Esther
Turner I'm at Three Wood Haven Lane um good evening good even honorable mayor Deputy Mayor and exem councel um I'm here just as a followup with the last meeting I had talked about my situation with the sewer line um and
extending to other neighbors properties and the issue that we have with the township I'm sorry with the MUA indicating that it is my responsibility to uh take care of a very excessive cost
and I I stand uh firm with the fact that it is not my responsibility as a homeowner so I'm not going to rehash um everything that we talked about the last time because I know it's it's on record and I also gave a letter um to the township manager and I believe the clerk
also made a copy of that uh first of all I want to thank the council so much for their um compassion and for their empathy in terms of what we're faced with um it was really very heart Waring to to have you all you know come to me
and to um sort of you know just give some comfort there I did reach out to Mr Mackey I was told to do that the executive director of the MUA I'm very kind man very nice man and um you know
there really has not been any movement in in this area I mean he just basically is reiterating the fact that it is the homeowner's responsibility conversations and discussions are ongoing uh so I just wanted to bring everything to the council's attention
since I brought it to your attention the last time as a followup just to let you know what's happening I will continue to pursue this I feel like this is not just my problem it is also I'm a voice for the residents of this community because
we do have a major issue um with this and I would like to say that the home serve policy that I believe was initiated by our former mayor Martin knock is really a
good policy for everyone to have because ultimately at some point we all may face this situation so it's good to make our residents aware again I know that the township manager mentioned that he may have something in the bulletins to um
make our residents um aware but I wanted to have that voice also because this situation is happening to me and it could be happening to others as well but they don't know how to speak out or maybe they're too afraid to speak out so
again I want to thank you for your attention to this matter I will continue to give you updates as they come thank you so much thank you Mr Turner good evening mayor Deputy Mayor Town Council and this wonderful energetic public looking good I see you
I'm excited to be here too thank you Mr Harris this the excitement is with me also and that's what Willam bro is all about your name and address please this is Dr Denise King at 135 touron Lane here in burrow as a resident and a elected School Board member I encourage our
residents to learn more about the district the school district Bo referendum which is coming in thank you Township Clerk for announcing that um the vote is coming on March the 11th we need your vote we need your voice
because I know and everyone knows your voice and your vote they matter no matter what the situation is it does matter for you to participate in the voting process we at there's the town hall tomorrow at the high school but we have had several Town Hall meetings if
you are unable to attend any of them feel free to go on to the web our web page at Willingboro Township School District and you'll see the virtual presentation that they have you can ask questions please ask questions go email
call as I as I said and other board members said we're available to hear your questions we want the questions so we can answer any of your concerns regarding the upcoming vote March 11th vote at your polling place thank you for announcing the polling places also I
want you know that I personally submitted my ballot already of course because I mailed by ballot and my questions for one and two was yes you ask me why did I vote Yes for questions one and two one because we need to repair our roofs no one would live in a
home with roofs are um damaged and not safe for the students or staff there I had the opportunity of course that the board member and others have toured the schools so this is something that is occurring and for question number two
supporting the sports athletic complex I voted yes for that also because I knowe the importance of not only having that in our community where our dollar stay in our community to provide revenue for our students for continued sustainable success not only the athletes but also
for Scholars it's an academic progression that we want to continue to have in our community many of you know that my granddaughter participates in the Willingboro Recreation chading competition and I'm so excited because they won couple of weeks ago as you know go Burl
yes PP that up because that's important they were I was there before I came here tonight helping them with their next um practice they have a meet on Saturday they won first place and the grand championship which means they do what they continue to win and they have
a positive positive impact on Willingboro when we go out to meet St like oh my goodness this is Willingboro Township yes this is what Willingboro Township Scholars and students look like Excellence we exude Excellence because
we provide them the training and the needed coaching that they that they provide for um these meets so thank you for supporting them as know I know you always do we appreciate that but I want to tell you when I go to these meets thousands of people are there now we get
in at 7 o'clock in the morning and we're just the first section we leave about 2 3 o00 and there's another section coming in so thousands come so they generate money because we have to pay $25 to $35 to get in and then the snack stand can I
say is around the corner you're going to generate money from the sports complex in this District if we vote Yes on on March the 11th please provide your voice and your vote to vote Yes shout out to of course the youth stars and a dime is
not only for the cheerleaders but for track stars D what are you D1 Dr King your time's up I'm excited as you can see don't forget to vote thank you so much for your time and I see there's one more online
Carmen hi thank you again for the opportunity to address you tonight I'm at Country Club and uh I have a couple of items uh it's one of my few meetings that I'm able to attend so I'm excited about this the first is a question slash
comment and that's regarding the possibility of the township to create a fund where um excess money can be invested to grow enough fund to be used for projects like improving our
community improving the parks um and just use the money in overall growth helping with grants for our seniors or the people who are not able to afford the high cost of um repairs such as the sewer line as we heard earlier
additionally this money could be used for projects like creating I'm sorry I'm hearing an echo the sport uh complex this would be a huge expense to the taxpayers and majority of people are not ready to put
that bill not only that there are areas in the education system that need to be repaired and updated um on top of the fact that budget for the Willen Bor schools was about $55 million which was
the highest or one of the highest in the state of New Jersey so again the first point is to create an investment fund uh with some of the money that can be used to invest and have a higher return with money that can be used for projects in
the community secondly and this is a conversation that I've had with some of you in the past um at different community events and that includes the um the process of uh
replanting fruit trees or trees in the community as we have seen in the past two decades since I lived here we see the trees are being damaged p psng is um trimming down and I don't think they're doing it correctly but the trees are
drying up they are uh weak trees the pine trees with the storm they're older they're not benefiting Us in any way we really need to look into a project and I heard that there was uh something on the table where um a tree expert would come
analyze the area to find out what can be replanted so Willingboro can stay green for our benefit and for the soil's benefit um so these are my two main Hot Topics at the moment I do have a concern about
the proposed increased budget um an estimate will tell you one number but at the end of that project we all know that number will be much higher and again in this day and time our community the people in the community everywhere are
struggling and another addition to the tax bill is not going to be easy to get through so thank you time today and um hopefully you can uh consider these um ideas and
suggestions thank you Carmen seeing no further public comment public comment is now closed all right um Mr Harris um Miss mallerie asked
about an update on the calendars so by I believe the calendars are at the printer and we'll be in the mail um shortly all right and also miss uh mallerie I'm sorry that you're having trouble hearing
us we will ensure that we are speaking directly into the microphone so that um it will lessen that uh Interruption uh Miss knock had a question about the tree situation that
she's experiencing and the request for removal for the tree yes so as Miss KN um accurately stated um that we did look into that matter and there is no there are no easements behind her particular property
so um but we will look we will do a deeper dive and look into it and see if there are utility easements um and if so those easements may have been granted to the utility company which still absolves willing burrow from
the obligation uh but we will look into we'll do a deeper dive okay and if they do fall on the utility easement then the utility companies will be responsible for that correct correct all
right thank you um thank you Mr Harris for your comments um we have and to address also Miss Williams question about the Trap and release program um
for the cats in town um we are reaching out to the Burlington County shelter system um to work with them to get that program in place so that we can address the cat situation um in town so thank you for bringing that back to the
Forefront and we will work on that um and welcome to the economic development committee Mr Harris we appreciate your energy um and your positive outlook on what this Township can be um also Miss Williams had a question
about the smaller recycling bins and handicap parking um for a written house so we have had this conversation many times over and we are willing to provide any Resident in written house that
request a smaller cart and we have provided those residents with smaller carts okay well she mentioned one resident at 70 Written House Drive would you um be able to work with that resident there to get them a smaller recycling
bin tomorrow please as soon as possible Mr Chapman not a Direction he he's behind the podium so I can't see him thank you um and anything about handicap
parking so um the parking at at the the written house is part of the association and I don't know that we can go in and designate handicap parking spaces on their properties um but um a
resident that needs a a handicap um parking could apply for a Placer uh through the police department um but there would need to be some consensus with the property to um allow um
reserved handicap parking by permit so the placement of a sign but again I don't believe that we can go ahead and do that on our own um but that's a question that our um esteemed legal counsel could answer us or advise us on
as well okay and I think there may be an ordinance about handicap parking um on residential streets so if you would look more into that and get back to Miss Williams that would be helpful um Miss residential streets are different than private property so right
okay but yes we'll look into it mayor okay thank you um Miss Turner thank you for the update on your uh sewer line issue um I'm glad that you were able to talk to Mr Mackey and please you know
continue to work with them um also because of your letter and expressing your concerns here at the meeting it um the sewer line policy was redistributed or the notification was uh notified or
posted in our Willingboro weekly um at the after the last meeting so that residents are getting another reminder to have that very helpful policy in the event of a sewer line failure um Dr King thank you for the
reminder of the school board election Bond referendum question that is coming up on March 11th um I think it is a very pressing issue that will affect not just the students but everyone in the
township so if you have not done so please find out more information as well as um if you are able to attend the final Town Hall that will be held at Willingboro high school tomorrow at 6:30
p.m. um also congratulations to the cheerleaders on their win we are very proud of our youth when they do something great so congratulations to the competition cheerleading team and finally we have Carmen um so
Carmen we do uh put money aside for projects that are going to have a large capital investment here in the township also if you've attended any of the town halls for the school board they also um noted that they have also started a fund
to put away monies for some of those larger projects um in the future also Mr Harris did you have any update or any um comments on the replanting of trees that are being cut
down either due to psng or lost to storm events um I I don't really but these are conversations that we are beginning to re-engage in with the environmental commission and and the Green Team um
about um keeping willing burrow um green and and planted as you know over the last two years we have received um 20 trees from the county which we have replanted in various locations throughout the township some of those
thrived some of those did not um but we are continuing to always investigate opportunities to replant um and protect our environment through the inclusion of um Greenery and green space
great thank you Mr Harris and finally her final comment was about um an a proposed increase budget the council has not introduced the budget for next year yet um we should be doing that at the
March 18th meeting um but at the moment I don't think we're looking at any increases so um I encourage you to attend that meeting to see the budget or the introduced budget for the township
um if you were referring to the school board increase that would be a question for the school board um as they noted the town hall is tomorrow um and also the school board meetings are on zoom
and happening in person and what are those Sayes the Schoolboard meetings on the second and fourth Mondays of of the month so I encourage you to attend those meetings as well anything I miss
councel Dr wory thank you Madame mayor yes um just adding on to what Carmen said about the replanting she was really interested in replanting of fruit trees um to see if that could be added instead of just the whatever we're getting that doesn't bear fruit that can be consumed
so just wanted to add that thank you thank you Dr wory good call out thank you any other comments all right being none um Council comments any Council comments for this
evening Council and PR just one um I wanted just to um bring a refresher reminder because when I when Mr Harris uh spoke about um the economic development um a few months ago well last year now it's last year um remember
I SP about um looking into marketing our vacant properties and um the person who spoke at that on that committee stated that um they needed money for their budget to do so so just wanted just to put that on the table as far as that committee um looking to request what
they what it looks like as far as finances to Market um to to do more marketing for our vacant properties that's all thank you Council woman for um and yes the economic development committee is working on that as well as the
township did put out an RFP for a community development manager that would help with the marketing of vacant properties as well as um Economic Development initiatives in the town okay thank
you any other Council comment yes just want to thank everybody for coming out uh want to congratulate Mr tun once again for raising the bar within his Department as Mr Harris reported and as Dr King mentioned and uh
others be mindful Tuesday March 11th is a special election understand what's being asked there are two questions please understand what's being asked no matter how you
answer just understand it because as it may be a beautiful edifice being built for a handful of children in this community and a majority of folks outside the community what I don't want to see is this edifice meanwhile we have
blighted homes because if you vote for one and not the other no matter how it goes there's going to be an increase to your taxes so just be mindful I know many residents uh senior residents are on a fixed income we have the
reevaluations coming up we don't know who's going to be affected who's not going to be affected we have these tariffs coming up where Mexico is about to implement this which means food and everything else is going up so please be mindful I understand what the what the
goal is but sometimes timing is everything timing is everything so while this edifice May attract others from other communities you don't want them coming to this edifice to a blighted community we've been through our phases where we had abandoned homes folks just
up in the middle of the night and just left so all I'm saying saying I can't tell you how to vote but all I'm saying is be mindful of what you're voting for thank you thank you councilman Anderson Council woman McIntosh I don't
have anything tonight but thank you for everyone coming out have a great night Deputy Mayor worthy thank you um Madame mayor um first I wanted to say congratulations to the winners um there was an award function um sponsored by uh
this Zas um it was a wonderful event out at the Weston so congratulations to all and to atap in particular for winning service organization of the Year representing willing burrow very well um also wanted to say I really enjoyed the Black History Month event that was put
on by the township thank you very much for the committee that put that together a special thanks to uh Miss Jackson and to Mr Bobby Ducket it was a great display of talent throughout the town a sense of camaraderie um I Heard the food was good but I
didn't get a plate cuz I was performing oh Mr Harris seconds the motion okay it was okay nobody so saved me anyway that's all right it was a wonderful event um it was hosted by Dr Stephanie Harris who is the director of Africana studies um at Miss Jackson was it seat
stock Sean Hall she was from seatan Hall she did a wonderful job um providing context throughout the evening it was just a really nice time to come together um to celebrate uh black history month and I'm looking forward to it um next year fourth the last Thursday of the
month uh February 2026 I already put it in my calendar so thank you for that wanted to say congratulations to our newest County Commissioner Randy brolo from Willingboro currently lives in Lumberton he was sworn in on Saturday so we're really excited about our new
County Commissioner um and and all that he Endeavors to do um another reminder tomorrow's the town hall for the school districts at 6:30 at Willingboro High School School the vote is on March 11th all day polling locations we've talked about that and then the school board has
a special meeting for their budget their budget meeting is March 17th at 6: PM so that's a great opportunity to come out to hear what it is that they endeavoring to do how money will be used if they plan on increasing taxes Beyond uh the referendum ask questions get involved
they're going to have a series of budget meetings just like we do in the township I know often the two entities get conflated the school district in the township while we work together we are two different elected bodies and so we
serve willing burrow but how we go about doing our business is a little bit different so I would encourage you to please go out to March 17th at 6 PM Schoolboard budget meetings now they only give you three minutes and they real clear about their three minutes so please have your comments ready um and
you cannot participate in their meetings online you can view online but you cannot make comments on online so if you'd like to be heard please go out to the Schoolboard meeting uh the budget meeting um that's all I have oh one more thing Ramadan Mubarak we have a large
population of of Muslims in Willingboro three mosques and Counting and um I'm really hopeful that you all have a peaceful healthy prosperous Ramadan and see you on the other side thank you Madame
mayor thank you Dr worthy all right um I did want to say um just Echo Dr Worthy's sentiments on the black history month program it really was a wonderful display um of the talent
that we have here in Willingboro and I encourage everyone to participate in not only our Black History Month programs but all of the programs that we do throughout the year um our Recreation and um Administration is always hard at work plan
different events for the community to be engaged in to engage our youth our seniors and everyone that lives here in different ways um so please check out the calendars and make sure that you are up to date um subscribe on the app and
uh to the Willingboro weekly so that you can stay up to date on what's going on in town also um for our council members I do want you to just take a look at your
calendars for Open dates in April at our March 18th meeting we should be getting the introduction of the budget and we will need to do some budget hearings so please um check your calendars in advance um during the month of April for
free days so that we can get those budget hearings scheduled um also I do want to just another reminder March 11th March 11th March 11th is the bond referendum vote please go out and the
final town hall is tomorrow at Willingboro High School 6:30 p.m. um to get your final questions answered uh and hear the presentation also you can view that presentation online through the
School Board website um the phenomenal wom nominations are currently still open and they close March 12th so if there are any phenomenal women that you know in the town ship or in your lives that you would like to see honored at our
event this year please make sure you get those nominations in um and then finally well two-part finally happy women's History Month I just want to acknowledge and thank the women uh the strong
powerful women that I serve with here on Council every day and also and Nat too but not this month um and and also um the women that serve in on the other boards in our Township on
the school board and on the MUA um we really are working hard and you can see the influence of women all through willing BR Township so thank you to the phenomenal women all through our Township and finally Ramadan Mubarak to
our Muslim Community um have a very peaceful uh Ramadan and that concludes my comments for tonight we will uh move to ajour can I get a motion in second to
adjourn so moved it's been moved by Council Woman foron seconded by Council woman McIntosh we'll go with it all in favor all in favor