WEBVTT

METADATA
Video-Count: 1
Video-1: youtube.com/watch?v=EgfDT83U9fA

NOTE
MEETING SECTIONS:

Part 1 (Video ID: EgfDT83U9fA):
- 00:08:20: Meeting Called to Order, Invocation and Flag Salute
- 00:11:59: Statements Regarding Previous Meeting's Community Concerns
- 00:18:53: Municipal Manager Update: JFK, Trash, and Road Restoration
- 00:20:32: Trash Collection Changes and Additional Red Lid Carts
- 00:25:57: Roadside Grass Restoration Plan and Tree Mulching
- 00:27:50: Zoning, Foreclosures, Fire Department, and Project Updates
- 00:34:41: Upcoming Community Events: Cleanup, Takeback, and More
- 00:38:25: Council Questions About Edge Lane and Red Lid Fees
- 00:39:47: Review of Ordinances and Resolutions for Consideration
- 00:40:03: Discussion of Revised Bond Ordinance for Firetruck Acquisition
- 00:40:53: Fire Chief Explains Need for Fire Truck Replacement
- 00:51:27: First Public Comment Period: Agenda Items Only
- 00:52:06: Ordinance Introductions: Bond, Refuse, and Limousine Fees
- 00:55:09: Public Hearings and Adoption of Municipal Ordinances
- 00:58:57: Approval of Resolutions and Treasurer's Report
- 01:00:05: Approval of Past Meeting Minutes and Clerk Updates
- 01:03:50: Discussion on Hometown Heroes Project and Resolution
- 01:08:15: Continuation of Hearing: Diamond Dogs LLC Club License
- 01:10:09: Police Report: Diamond Dogs Incident on April 11th
- 01:13:41: Diamond Dogs Response and Clarifications of Events
- 01:21:48: Discussion and Concerns about Alcohol Being Served
- 01:22:26: Executive Session Deliberation: Diamond Dogs Club License
- 02:25:21: Resuming Public Hearing and Vote on Diamond Dogs License
- 02:30:31: Resolution Denied: Diamond Dogs Club License Application
- 02:30:49: New Business: Community Solar and Intern Introductions
- 02:32:13: Unfinished Business: Free Pool Days and Budget Meetings
- 02:40:02: Strategic Employee Engagement Plan Discussion
- 02:40:36: Public Works Director's Vehicle and Employee Workload
- 02:44:16: New Business: Provision of Policy of Director's Vehicles
- 02:44:48: Second Public Comment: General Items
- 02:45:18: Workforce Internship Proposal Discussion
- 02:49:01: Culturally Insensitive Statement Regarding Mexican Landscapers
- 02:51:25: Changes to Polling Locations and Voter Notification
- 02:52:25: Council Member's Stature and Community Landscaping Services
- 02:55:39: Council Responds, Expresses Views Regarding the Statement
- 03:04:25: Council Comments: Budget Expectations and Work Appreciation
- 03:05:33: Council Comments: Reconsideration of Virtual Communication
- 03:06:35: Council Announcements for Queen of Fua
- 03:07:55: Closing Remarks on Respect and Inclusion
- 03:08:30: Mayor's Golf Classic Update and Promotion
- 03:09:35: Reminder of April 25th Community Cleanup Day


Part: 1

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All right, Madame Clerk, the time is now 7:03. The time is now 7:03 and I would like to call the regular township council meeting to order. >> Councilwoman Peron, >> present. Councilman Anderson, >> present.

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>> Councilwoman Macintosh, >> Deputy Mayor Dr. Worthy, >> present. >> And Mayor Whitfield, >> present. Okay. >> At this time, I'd like to invite Reverend Alicia Julia Stanley of St. Paul's United Methodist Church to lead

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us in prayer. >> Good evening, Reverend Stanley. >> Good evening. >> Let us pray. God of all, we ask for your presence in this chamber tonight. We stand in a place of history, but also a place of

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heavy responsibility. We ask that you steady the hearts of those who sit in the seats where decisions are made. Grant them, O Lord, the grace of a listening ear, reminding us that all we were give to all of us were given two ears and only one mouth

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for a reason, to listen twice and to wait to speak. May they listen not to construct a defense or to secure a political win, but to understand the soul of a neighbor standing before them. Remind us, oh Lord, as we deliberate that trust is a fragile thing. It is not

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granted by an election. It is earned one person at a time through every policy and every promise kept. It is earned from the infant in the cradle to the elderly who have paved the way for us to be here today. Let it be known, oh Lord, that in these chambers the few that make decisions for

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the many. May those few never forget the many who are not in this room, the wrong families, the quiet and the vulnerable among us. Let us seek not to debate for the sake of victory, but to discern for the sake of justice. May your choices

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tonight be wise, your words be kind, and your actions be for the common good of all who call this township home. We humbly ask. Amen. >> Amen. >> Amen. >> Thank you, Madam Clerk. We please flag. Can we please rise for

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the flag salute? Notice was provided in compliance with chapter 231 of the public laws of 1975 to the Burlington County Times, Trenton Times, and Philadelphia Inquirer stating the date, time, place, and the agenda to the extent it was known. Additionally,

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notice was filed in the office of the township clerk. >> Thank you, Madam Clerk. Good evening, everyone. Thank you for attending our meeting this evening on April 21st. Um before we begin our meeting, I do

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want to make a short statement. I want to address the comments that were made during the council meeting on April 7th that caused concern in our community. Willingboro is a diverse and welcoming township.

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um and statements that generalize or stereotype any group, regardless of intent, do not reflect the values of respect and inclusion we strive to uphold. I understand why many found these remarks troubling as did I. And it

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is important that we acknowledge the words that words matter, especially in a public forum. I also want to be clear that the comments that were made did not reflect the views of the entire township council as a whole. We remain committed

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to serving every resident with fairness, dignity, and respect. And Councilwoman Perona, you have a statement as >> I do. Thank you. >> I did write a statement. Um before I begin, I will like to make this

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statement as well. It really truly is unfortunate how people take some of your words and use it as political gain and troublesome. So here's what I wrote. I am addressing both

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the council and the public regarding the conditions of the grass along with Wllingboro's main roads. According to the public works report which was provided at that meeting, the reason for the widespread brown and

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damaged grass is that a previous public works director authorized the use of herbicide along the edges. This discussion was made to avoid performing routine routine edge maintenance.

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The justification given was based on a past incident where an employee was injured while operating edging equipment as well as concerns about worker safety due to public traffic. I want to be clear

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that response is not acceptable. Routine roadside maintenance is a basic responsibility of the public's works department and it is a service that we provide to the Willenber community. These same

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roads were properly maintained decades ago under similar traffic conditions. The idea that this work is now too dangerous raises serious questions about how we are m managing both safety and

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accountability. Worker safety absolutely matters. But avoiding the work entirely and resorting to damaging public property is not a resolution. Other municipalities manage to maintain

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their roadsides safely with proper training, equipment, and traffic control measures in place. There are established practices to mitigate risk without abandoning maintenance altogether.

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What residents are seeing today, dead brown edges along our main roads, is the result of a decision to prioritize convenience over proper upkeep that reflects poorly on the township and

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lowers the standards of our community should expect that our community should expect. We need a better plan going forward. One that restores the appearance of our roads, respects the taxpayers's investment, and ensures

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workers are protected without eliminating essential services. I urge the council to revisit this policy and implement a solution that balances safety with responsibility.

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In closing, statistics show the US landscaping workforce is diverse with Hispanic and Latinos being at 8% to 35% workers making up the largest segments. Hispanic and Latino workers,

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particularly of Mexican, are 65.4%. Guatemalans, which I am Guatemalan, are 9.93% and Salvadorans at 6 57% origin are heavily

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represented in landscaping. Hispanic and Mexican workers are widely recognized as a critical and highly skilled force within the US landscape and green industry. They are identified as essential

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industry pillars. The US landscape industry would be significantly smaller and less developed without the contributions of Hispanic workers. They are often credited with maintaining lush

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aesthetic character of suburban areas in major cities like Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Santiago. Different nationalities are recognized for excellence in landscaping depending on whether the focus is on land labor, field labor, or

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maintenance or high-end design and landscaping architecture. Okay. So, in the United States, Hispanic or Latino workers constitute a massive portion of the landscaping industry. In 2023,

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43.9% of the US landscaping and groundkeeping workers were Hispanic with a significant percentage of being Mexican origin. They are highly regarded for their expertise

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in lawn care, maintenance, construction, particularly in the US. That concludes my statement. So, I hope that that I'm not done speaking. I hope that that is what you can post, Mr. Will Weston. I hope that that statement

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clarifies that I complimented workers which according to the US statutes also recognize that Mexicans are excellent and expert at landscaping. There is nothing that I said about anything insulting to any uh race or people or

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anything like that. So to to to pinpoint and try to break apart something that was positive is a disgusting character of you. Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman P. All right. As we move forward, um I

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believe we don't have any presentations this evening, Mr. Harris. All right. And no proclamations. So we will move right on along into the manager's municipal update. Mr. Harris. Good evening members of the governing body. Uh just a few

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updates. I did submit uh my full monthly report to you um in by way of email. So just some updates that uh have transpired since last we met. The department of public works has been busy uh with bathroom reservations at the JFK Center. They are nearing completion. Uh

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the restroom partitions were installed on April the 13th. And if you have not had the opportunity to go to the new facilities as you go towards the gym, please do. They're absolutely um magnificent. Uh DPW has been working diligently with Interstate Waste

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Services to finalize the township's new trash collection routes. At this time, the routes appear to be completed and finalized. Information is expected to be transmitted uh for public distribution by the end of the week. And I will ask Mr. Chapman to come up and give you a

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brief synopsis of some of the um changes and benefits to the uh Willingboro residence. While he's on his way, I will tell you that restoration of the median islands along Vans Skyver Parkway did begin on April the 11th. Uh work progressed from the Westampton uh from

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Westampton to JFK and as previously presented by Mr. Chapman, this will remain an ongoing maintenance and restoration effort. Um, Mr. Chapman. >> Alrighty. Part two. Good evening, man. Mayor, deputy mayor, members of council.

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All right. So, as Mr. Harris just alluded to, we are making the transition to a new trash vendor. Um, we already know the struggles we've been having with Republic. We just got to hold on for about 40 more days. Uh, believe June 1st is when the new trash contract

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begins. Um, with that being said, we put together a frequently asked questions that Miss Tanya Jackson will be putting out. Um, we also have the map that was provided of the new collection route. So, I'm just going to go over a few of the changes um going forward underneath the new trash vendor. Uh, collection

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days will be changing a little bit. Right now, we do not have collection on uh Wednesday. However, that will be changing to no collection on Tuesday. So, the whole Tuesday route will be moved to Wednesday. Um, Monday stays the same, which will be Deer Park, Milbrook,

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Penny Packer, and Written House. As I just stated, Tuesday will be no collection. On Wednesday, we will have Buckingham, Somerset, Fairmont. And then on Thursday, we will have Hawthorne and Garfield North. And then Friday will be our biggest collection day where you

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have Garfield, Garfield East, Twin Hills, Country Club, Windsor, Martins Beach, and Lake Drive. So, the really um I guess you could say only notable changes will be note collection on Tuesday and excuse me

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and and Garfield East being moved from Thursday to uh Friday collection. Um other than that, everything else is pretty much the same. Um as far as bulk collection, underneath this new uh trash contract, you will no longer have to schedule bulk collection. you will be able to place out five up to five

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permissible items on your regularly scheduled trash collection day and they will just come and collect it. You don't have to call and schedule that. That's already included. Um and that's weekly every week on your scheduled trash collection day. Um as far as any trash collection complaints, we did try to get

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that transitioned over to the vendor directly through their call center. However, they pushed back on that last minute and we will be still taking any miscolction for trash calls at the Department of Public Works. Um 609877-2200,

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extension 1051 or extension 1107. Uh anything else? Uh metal collection that will still remain the same. That is still be scheduled uh through the Department of Public Works. That's not part of the trash contract. So that remains the same. and anything else, I guess you could

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say, questions that any U residents may have when the uh frequently asked questions go out is all up there. I have been in constant communication with this vendor. So, I am hopeful that this new vendor will be a lot better for the township. They seem a lot more organized. They seem a lot more, I guess

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you could say, um technically sound on what they their plan that they have. They did indicate that they purchased more trash trucks to help accommodate Willenboro Township to eliminate on the breakdowns that we have been experiencing with Republic. And um I guess in conversations that I had with

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other uh colleagues that I have in the public works industry, they do um provide quality service. They are currently in Maple Shade right now. And I was speaking to a friend of mine who's the director over there. He said they had them for about nine years. No problems. Um they just went out the bid. They got the bid back and they are

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pretty satisfied with their service. So he said that we should be satisfied as well. So uh Willboro residents, I just want to let you know we hear your concerns, we hear your cries, and we're trying to go forward with a better collection service. >> Thank you, Mr. Chapman. Additionally, Mr. Chapman, would you um be able to

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talk a little bit or Mr. Harris be able to talk a little bit about the second cart, the additional carts that'll be available? So, that is an ordinance that we're putting uh before you this evening um to put that into place that will be

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providing residents with the ability to uh acquire a a second red lid cart. If you have currently uh had a red lid cart, uh you will still be required to um pay the annual maintenance for the

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red lid for the red lid carts to continue to utilize those carts. um as I believe you did pay the $75 to have them um installed or put into place back in in the day. Uh we do have will have

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uh 750 available for collection uh in Willing Barrow. That number was contrived by the residents who currently had red lit carts, those who were waiting on the on the waiting list for red lit carts and an additional uh

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supply for any uh residents above those on the waiting list who may desire to have them. The cost to have them in put into place will be $75 and there will be a uh $145 annual fee uh for the collection. um they can be obtained by

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uh submitting an application and paying the fees in the finance department. And uh it will be a one-year commitment. So you can't get them just for the holidays. Um it will be a one-year commitment. And um

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uh I guess that's it. >> Okay. >> All right. Madam Mayor, >> yes. >> Um thank you, Miss Chapman. Now, with regards to the major roadways with the brown grass, so we have an update on on that topic.

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>> Uh, yes. Uh, last time I this uh presented to you guys, I said that we were going to start that Saturday, which that did take place. So, we have been blowing out all the pine needles. If you drive down Veterans, we started on uh in West Hampton and we made it all the way down to the JFK. So, we blew off the pine needles, got all that stuff off to

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the dead, I guess you could say browning areas that you keep uh referring to. And I just put in the order of the compost today and that should be delivered I believe uh next week. So we are working towards it and chipping away at it and it's not something that we abandoned but we are chipping away at it. >> Okay. And then so the grass because the

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poison was put down to kill the grass. Is that what you're purchasing to grow the grass? >> Uh the compost is just to uh I guess you could say enhance the uh the components of the uh soil that's already there because it has been damaged so much due to the uh pesticide. We're just trying to get a more nutrient-rich base there

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so we can sustain vegetation there. >> Thank you. One other thing, um, and I don't think I've ever heard you mention this, and I don't think I've seen it in Willingboro, but I've seen in other communities, they we have a lot of trees on those roads. They place mulch around the tree, the tree bottom, and it looks

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really pretty. Typically, they'll plant flowers around that area. Is that something that we could do? Um, >> um, it's something that we can consider. Um, but that is a cost a cost attached to it. So that's a dollar amount that we will have to consider and actually factor in because that's not something we can capitalize. That would have to be

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operational expense. >> Okay. Can you um provide like an expense of how much that would look like? This way I can present it to the council um and see if we can work that into the budget because it does make the the grass and the the vegetation look much prettier. Thank you. Thank you for what

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you're doing today. >> Okay. No problem. >> All right. Any other questions for Mr. Chapman? >> Mr. Anderson. Council man. >> Okay. >> All righty. Thank you. >> So, continuing on with my report, the um

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the zoning department inspections received uh applications over the weekend for special events um at the authorized dealer dispensary and roots on 130 pursuant to township ordinance. Cannabis may not be advertised or

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consumed outside. Both of those events were conducted inside on their premises which is permissible under the ordinance and I just thank Mr. Tonsl and his team for being on top of that and making sure that our ordinance and and were were

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completely followed. The inspection department is also addressing an issue involving a an RV parked at the parking and establishing a homestead at the Big D Marina. The individual has been instructed to vacate the property as it

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is private property and not an authorized RV parking location. Um the township is in the process of finalizing an IMRAMM foreclosure and is awaiting the final uh the file the final filing with the secretary of state. Once that process is completed, the township will

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own the property and then can begin to take the necessary steps to legally remove the individual who is now claiming an ADA um right to to be there. Um but again, we are uh will be dealing with that a

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little more aggressively when we become the rightful owners of that property. Uh our fire emergency medical services, two full-time EMTs were hired effective February 10th. to backfill the vacancies created when two full-time ENTs

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transition to perdm status. Uh in our fire department, fire captain Matthew Fel has advised that he will be retiring effective May 1st, 2026, and he is currently out on sick leave with uh medical documentation. Our human

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resources has scheduled and organized scheduled and organized a part-time job fair for April 23rd from 10:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. The school board has approved student participation and will be transporting, I believe, up to 75

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students to explore time part-time uh employment opportunities with the township. Uh the township is also preparing to offer summer internship opportunities. Unlike standard part-time employees, these internships are intended to be learning focused

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positions that provide practical industry experience and support career development. While internships may be paid or unpaid, paid opportunities are preferred. So, we will be providing more information as we finalize the preparation. Just to give you some

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project updates going on in Willingber, the performing arts center remains in the final punch list stage. Nearly all work associated with phases one and two is complete with some remaining electrical work still to be performed. Um in addition, A Brooks roofing

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repaired the roof over the dressing room uh area last week to address ongoing leakage during heavy rain events um in the green room area. Our food pantry is is making uh progress. We had a progress meeting uh this Monday passed with Lan

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Associates. Uh the plans are substantially complete. They did submit final plans today with um with a few modification and they will be presented to you for review. Uh Crystal Lake Docks, Remington and Vernick Engineers is currently

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scheduling field survey work. Uh NJD permitting uh permitting coordination is underway in conjunction with Easy Dock. They are the um pre-fabricated dock supplier. Remington Vernick is also evaluating the construction of restroom

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facilities outside of the Jake's Place playground area in Mil Creek Park. This remains the final component um that is required by Green Acres before they will authorize construction and then we can begin that project and the pickle ball courts as well.

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The JFK track and field improvements are moving along very swiftly. Installation of the JFK uh facade at the track began today. Uh the rubberized track installation was also scheduled to begin but however due to the drop into temperatures that work

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what must again be delayed until temperatures can consistently remain at or above 60°. The track will remain officially closed until that phase is completed which hopefully will be within the next two to three weeks. And the

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township is also obtaining quotes to install four permanent lighting towers to provide um lighting at the field and the track. Uh pageant lane and plum tree drainage repairs. The pageant lane emergency

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repair project is um expected to begin soon. The township is awaiting the contractor to mobilize and we anticipate that that work will take approximately 2 to 3 weeks to complete. Once Pageant Lane is finished, the township will will move forward to obtain quotes for the

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second phase of the repair at Plum Tree. The rooftop units and edge lane work are also in uh in motion with TNM is moving forward with the rooftop unit repairs at JFK. The firm has also completed the

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work at Edge Lane and is currently finalizing the punch list. No flooding events have been observed following recent heavy rain uh storms. And the township is also seeking engineering proposals for two projects which are expected to be primarily funded through

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uh 28 200 but through a $218,000 local aid grant. Uh the township is working with Remington Vernick, PSCG, and the Ibank to address roadway restoration in areas that were impacted by PSENG gas line

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work um that still require repair. The goal is to move forward on this work in the coming weeks with the objective of having all of our roads repaired by the end of this year. Burlington County will soon be advertising the Veterans Parkway covert

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replacement project out for bid. That project is tenatively scheduled to be advertised on April 28th and the bids are due back on May 28th. It is anticipated that this project will address the worsening dip along Veterans Parkway um right before you get to the

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um the track field um heading up towards that way. Um, and that is uh my report from for this evening. I will ask Miss Jackson if she will come and give us an update on all the wonderful things

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happening in Willingboro. >> Thank you. Good evening, Mayor, Deputy Mayor, members of council, and all assembled. It's so wonderful to see everyone this evening. So, we are just a few days away from this year's spring clean communities cleanup. That event will be on Saturday, April 25th,

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beginning at 9:30 at the Kennedy Center. We are inviting all to come out to come together to join us to help beautify our community and um retain our commitment to keep our community clean. Uh registration is available. We will be

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giving away um t-shirts while supplies last and raffling off a few items recognizing large groups in attendance and looking forward to a great day. So we invite everyone to come out on that same day. We will also have our DA DEA

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takeback day, drug day that will be on Saturday also from 10 to 2 here um at the police department and we will be collecting unused and unneeded medication. So we invite our community members to take advantage of that opportunity as well. Applications for

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our youth fire and youth police academy are now available. Both of these are great opportunities for our young people to explore options and opportunity in public safety safety. These are free opportunities. Registration is required. Spaces are limited and uh the

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applications are available on our website. As was shared, we have a pop part-time having some speech problems today. part-time job fair on Thursday, April 23rd. That will be from 10 to 2. So, we

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invite our young people and um adults who are interested in those opportunities to come out at the Kennedy Center on Thursday. Registration for Camp Fun and Sun is now are now open. Camp dates are July 6th through the 21st

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and registration um is available. Early bird does end on Thursday, April 23rd. So, we encourage those to take advantage of that opportunity. Our Memorial Day observance will be on May 25th at 11:00 a.m. at the Mill Creek Park. So, please

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make make note of that. This year's Junth celebration will be held on Friday, June 19th from 3:00 to 7:00 at Mil Creek Park. We will be hosting local choirs, gospel artists, and the like as we celebrate gospel music as the cornerstone of African-American culture

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and tradition this year. And applications for vendors and sponsorship opportunities are now available. As you heard, the uh renovations are going on at the track. We um invite you to stay tuned for more information regarding this year's live music series, the

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summer in motion block series, the jazz festival, and lots of other things going on this summer. Um we will be sharing more information regarding the grand opening of a performing arts center. Believe that will be shared soon. Uh we have several classes, programs, and

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sports activities that are available and open to the community via our recreation department. More information can be found on our department page on the township website as well as willre.com. And we continue just to remind you that

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we will be transitioning willing.com to a new platform, Civic Wreck. And this will align with the township's new website and will be powered by Civic Plus. So, we want to keep you um keep that in front of you as we make that transition. And of course, you can

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always stay connected with us via our various me modes of communication. So, that's it for me unless you have any questions. >> Thank you, Miss Jackson. Any questions for Miss Jackson? >> No. >> All right. Thank you so much, >> Jackson.

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>> All right. And any questions for Mr. Harris on his manager's report? Uh, Councilwoman Macintosh. >> Thank you, Mr. Harris, for your report. Um, concerning Edge Lane, um, TNM, were

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they responsible for the, um, repair landscaping to to the properties that were damaged? >> Yes. >> Um, can they go back through as part of their punch list? Um, there's quite a few properties that the um, where they refilled the dirt and grass. Okay.

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>> It's not good. Um, and it just happened to be because of the weather that happened right after they laid it. So, there's a lot of dents and huge huge holes um that need to be filled back in and re regrassed. >> Councilman Anderson,

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>> almost missed my turn. Uh, Miss Harris, regarding the uh red lids, I know the additional cards, there will be a 145 annual fee. Is there currently a fee assessed on the old red cards, the original ones? Okay. Just just wanted to make sure.

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Thank you. >> All right. Any other questions for Mr. Harris? >> All right. Seeing none, Mr. Harris, you can go on to um the review of the ordinances and resolutions for this evening.

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>> Thank you, mayor. Uh the first item being presented to you for your consideration is a bond ordinance providing for various capital improvements. We actually did introduced this bond ordinance at the last meeting. However, I am asking that the council

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consider a um a revision to this bond ordinance to make provisions to um provide for the acquisition of a a fire trunk. Um I do have Chief Bernett, Chief Bernett here to explain um the

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seriousness of our situation in regards to the fire truck and um this is something that needs to to be addressed. Um and I will ask him to come and explain and then we will uh go through the

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methods of funding this uh municipal vehicle. Chief Bernett. >> Thank you, Mr. Harris. Good evening, Mayor, deputy mayor and council. >> Good evening, Chief. >> Uh, members of the public. Um, so I'm going to talk about uh just briefly

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about the reason why the um apparatus is definitely needed. Um, so currently we have uh three fire engines uh one ladder truck, one rescue truck um in our um fleet. Um, back in August, uh, the one

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engine, the main the primary engine, engine engine 1613, got in an accident and went out for repair at the end of the year. While at the repair shop, uh, one of the, um, primary wiring caught fire. Uh, the vendor called me and said, "You're not." I thought he was joking at

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first. He said that the, uh, truck caught fire. I'm like, "Well, how much like damage was it?" I went out there and the wiring caught fire. they actually had to use the fire extinguisher on it um to put the fire out. And then what happened um so the

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wiring went throughout the entire truck. So to replace that wiring, the um uh insurance adjuster said that that's two claims now. Um and they total the truck. So that truck is not going to get repaired, so it's out of service. So that's our main truck that had our

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rescue tools on it along with firefighting um uh firefighting equipment. So now we're down to two engines. Um both of the the remaining engines um are older too. All three engines were old. Um so the one truck

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the next truck that's out to be the primary truck is in 1612. That one had a uh radiator leak. Then when it got back the next day it had it it it was making um a noise which caused u the

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transmission mounts to go bad. So with the trucks being so old that these vehicles um trying to get parts is hard to get parts. So they came back that had the transmission mount and after that it had air leaks uh issues. So our oldest

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truck which was in the 1611s in 1997 was a primary truck in service. I told Mr. Harris that it is very dangerous right now because that truck on several occasions would not go into pump correctly. So I thought maybe I said maybe because we have a couple new

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drivers. I said is it a driver issue or is it the truck? So I was told absolutely it is a truck. Um the first time happened it happened with one of our senior drivers. The truck would not go to pump three times on a brush fire. That's not good. So we kept documenting advising township manager what's our

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issues there. Then after that it would not go into pump on a vehicle fire a working vehicle fire. It it took two times to go in pump. So that I told Mr. Harris if this goes not in the pump on a house fire it is going to be very very

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bad. Um I think the same issue happened in Camden um where the truck arrived on location had a working house fire and it did not go in the pump. That's not good. So I told Mr. Harris I said this is very damag extremely dangerous right for the township right for the township residents and also for the firefighters

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operating the vehicle uh right for their safety. So, um, the recommendation is to, uh, get a stock vehicle that could be here within 6, uh, 6 to 8 months. Um, I told Mr. Harris that we're not going to ask for no bells and whistles and stuff like that. Stock truck coming off

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the line. Um, which, uh, a manufacturer can put out sooner than a three-year. Ever since CO, uh, truck trying to get a truck, um, manufacture, it takes almost like three to four years. I told him that we would take one off this off

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their line, off their stock line, um, and it could be here within 6 to8 months. I extremely think that it was important and needed that we had to have this truck sooner than later. So that's why we're here today. So, >> all right. Do we have any questions for

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Chief Bernette? >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> So, currently we have been kind of stocking away money. Um, in our previous capital ordinances, which I believe we

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had accumulated 350,000, uh, we had planned to to put away an additional $200,000 this year in our capital ordinance for a firet truck and a $125,000 appropriation for a new chassis for an

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ambulance. Uh, we are still waiting to receive delivery on an ambulance that we purchased, I believe, last year. Um, so it was discussed and determined that that we could still hold off on that uh until a future capital budget and then

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use those monies to add to a fire truck. So essentially, we would be adding about an additional $400,000 onto this capital budget to finance a 1.1 million >> $1.1 million firet truck. Um and that is

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what um we are asking the council to consider with the revisions in this capital ordinance. Uh the next ordinance being presented to you is ordinance number 26 2026-14 which is the the introduction of the

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ordinance outlining the the um the policies and procedures for the issuance of the additional uh refuge cart program in Willing Barrow. And then ordinance number, well, it's labeled number C on the agenda. Um, I

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believe that's being asked to be um held off until the future meeting. So, we're going to ask that that be um taken or reconsidered at another date. Ordinance being presented to you for public hearing and possible final

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adoption would be ordinance number 202609 which is an ordinance to exceed the municipal appropriations limit and to establish a CA cap bank. Ordinance 2026-10, which is a bond

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ordinance provided for providing for the replacement of the stormwater alpha foil pipe at Pageant Lane, which I just reported uh to you on um ordinance number 2026-11, which was the um bond ordinance uh

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providing for the various capital improvements because we're going to make um hopefully make adjustments to that ordinance. um we will have to uh introduce a completely new ordinance. And then ordinance number 2026-12

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is amending uh chapter 12 uh chapter 150-9 of the township code entitled fees for licenses and permits and that's related to limousine owners and limousine vehicle license fees. And and I don't know if the municipal uh deputy

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municipal clerk are you ready to speak on that? Thank you. >> I'm sorry. Okay. So, this ordinance is just to update the the fees to become in line with what the state fees are. Um,

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so that's typically what the amendment was. Um, our fees were a little bit higher than what the state was. And just so that we're on the same um same level as the state, we are updating the fees to reflect the state fees. All right. >> Thank you. The resolutions that are

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being presented to you this evening, resolution number uh 95 is a resolution authorizing the approval of vouchers for payment and ratification. Resolution number 96 is a resolution authorizing the township to authorize a contract for

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OTC of Burlington County for the acquisition of the additional recycling carts that we're going to utilize. Resolution number 97 is a resolution authorizing the township of Willingboro to award a contract for solid solid

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waste collection and that is going to interstate. Is it interstate or all state? >> Interstate. >> Yeah, interstate waste collection. And uh and I believe that contract value

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at the first year is $1,571,76.88, which I believe was just about a $50,000 increase over uh what we were paying with Republic. I was quite surprised of seeing what some of these bids have been coming in across the state and I think

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we uh got really lucky. Uh the next resolution number 98 is authorizing um an anticipated contract or a contract with Multi-Temp Mechanical Incorporated.

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We would like to um contract with them to provide HVAC maintenance services through all of our municipal buildings. Um and that anticipated contract value is about 65,000

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>> 68,000 which uh we had um looked into previous vendors to provide this for for one reason or another. we were not moving forward with them and it's about a $17,000 decrease um from what we were actually looking for. Um and I truly

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hope that they will um allow us to to get our buildings back up to to speed with HCH HV HVAC. >> There we go. >> And um have those ser those uh systems

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uh properly functioning not only now but into the future. And then resolution number 26, 2026-99 is asking for the approval of the plan and design for the JFK remodel and expansion of the senior center um at the

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JFK so we can prepare to put that project out to bid. Alima was here at the last meeting and went through the final plans. Um I have heard no requests for modifications or updates, so I'm assuming that they're ready to go. and if you'll give the thumbs up, we can go

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out and get that pro project finally moving forward. And those are all of the items being presented to you this evening for your consideration. >> All right. Thank you, Mr. Harris. At this time, we'll have our first public comment. This public comment is for two

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minutes, agenda items only. Um you can come up to the microphone. There are comment cards in the back. If we need to get in touch with you um outside of the meeting, we will do so using those cards. You can hand that card to our

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deputy clerk who is sitting up here. And once again, this is our public comment for agenda items only. Um you will have two minutes. Public comment is now open. All right, seeing none, public comment is now closed.

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All right, council. Are there before we do the ordinances, are there any uh resolutions that you would like to pull out from a consent agenda? All right, seeing none, we'll do a complete consent agenda tonight. And

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madame deputy clerk, you can move forward with the ordinances. May I get a motion to introduce ordinance 26-13, a bond ordinance providing for various capital improvements in and by Township of Willingboroough in the county of

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Burlington, New Jersey, appropriating 3,380,000, therefore, and authorizing the issuance of 3,211,000 bonds or notes for the township to finance part of the cost thereof. >> So moved. >> Second. Moved by Councilman Anderson,

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seconded by Deputy Mayor Worthy. Any discussion? Seeing none, roll call. Councilwoman Peron, >> yes. >> Councilman Anderson, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Macintosh, >> yes. >> Deputy Mayor Dr. Worthy, >> yes. >> And Mayor Whitfield,

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>> yes. May I get a motion to introduce ordinance 26-14, an ordinance of the township council, township council of Willenboroough County of Burlington, state of New Jersey, amending chapter 370.

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I apologize. This article number, I'm not even sure what the article number is, so please forgive me. >> Sub 27, I'm sorry. 27 supplementary regulations of the code of the township of Willingboro by creating a new section

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370 hyphen 94 entitled optional red lid additional refuse cart program. >> So moved. >> Second. It's been moved by Councilman Anderson, seconded by uh Deputy Mayor Worthy. Did

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you have discussion, Deputy Mayor? Okay. Um, just a small correction. That's article 17, not 27. >> Okay. Thank you. >> All right. Roll call. Councilwoman Peron, >> yes. >> Councilman Anderson, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Mintosh,

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>> yes. >> Deputy Mayor Dr. Worthy, >> yes. >> Mayor Whitfield, >> yes. >> Okay. for ordinance. I'd like to open a public hearing for ordinance. >> There's resolution 2026-15. Um >> Oh, I'm sorry. Yes. Uh resol um

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ordinance 26-15 is being um is being held. We're pulling that one. >> Oh, okay. >> All right. Perfect. Thank you. >> You're welcome. All right. We can go on to public hearings. Okay. I'd like

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I'd like to open public hearing for ordinance 26-9, an ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a CAT bank. Anyone wishing to come forward to comment on this ordinance only, please

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do so. Seeing none, this public hearing is now closed. Madam clerk, >> yes. Can I get a motion to adopt ordinance 26-9, excuse me, 26-09? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Moved by Councilwoman Peron. Seconded by

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Councilwoman Mintosh. Any discussion. >> Roll call. >> Councilwoman Peron. >> Yes. >> Councilman Anderson. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Macintosh. >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor Dr. Worthy. >> Yes. >> Mayor Whitfield. >> Yes. I'd like to open up public hearing on

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ordinance 26-10, a bond ordinance providing for the replacement of stormwater outfall pipe at Pageant Lane in and by the township of Willingboro in the county of Burlington, New Jersey, appropriating 336,581. Therefore, in authorizing the issuance

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of 316,581 bonds or notes of the township to finance part of the cost. Anyone wishing to come forward to comment on this ordinance only, please do so. All right. Seeing none, public hearing

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is now closed. Madame clerk, may I get a motion to adopt ordinance 26-10? >> So moved. Moved by Councilman Anderson, seconded by Councilwoman Mintosh. Any discussion? Seeing none, roll call. Councilwoman

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Peron, >> yes. >> Councilman Anderson, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Mintosh, >> yes. >> Deputy Mayor Dr. Worthy, >> yes. >> Mayor Whitfield, >> yes. >> Regarding ordinance 26-11, we are withdrawing this ordinance.

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Can I get a a motion to withdraw ordinance 26-11? This is being replaced by the one we introduced this evening with the amendments. Motion to withdraw. >> Second. >> Moved by Councilwoman Peron. Seconded by Councilwoman Macintosh.

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Any discussion? Roll call. Councilwoman Peron. >> Yes. >> Councilman Anderson. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Macintosh. Yes. >> Deputy Mayor Dr. Worthy. Yes. >> Mayor Whitfield. >> Yes. Okay. And our last ordinance for I'd

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like to open up for public hearing. It is ordinance 26-12, an ordinance amending chapter 150-phen 9 of the township code entitled fees for license and permits to update limousine owner and limousine vehicle license fees.

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Anyone wish I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Go ahead. Anyone wishing to come forward to speak on this ordinance only, please do so. Seeing none, public hearing is now closed. Can I get a motion to adopt ordinance 26-12?

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>> So moved. >> Second. Moved by Councilman Anderson, seconded by Deputy Mayor Worthy. Discussion. Did you have discussion, Council Member? Seeing no discussion, roll call. Councilwoman Peron,

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>> yes. >> Councilman Anderson, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Macintosh, >> yes. >> Deputy Mayor Dr. Worthy, >> yes. >> And Mayor Whitfield, >> yes. >> I'd like to ask for a consent agenda um to approve resolutions 2026-95

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through 2026-9. So move. >> Second. >> Moved by Councilman Anderson, seconded by Councilwoman Macintosh. Any discussion? Seeing none, roll call. >> Councilwoman Peron, >> yes. >> Councilman Anderson, yes.

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>> Councilwoman Mintosh, yes. >> Deputy Mayor Dr. Worthy, >> yes. >> Mayor Whitfield, >> yes. I need a motion to approve the same. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Moved by Councilman Anderson, seconded by Deputy Mayor Worthy.

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Any discussion? Roll call. >> Councilwoman Peron? >> Yes. >> Councilman Anderson? >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Mintosh? >> Yes. Deputy Dr. um did that do m I'm sorry. Yes. Deputy Mayor Dr. Worthy. >> Yes. >> And Mayor Whitfield.

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>> Yes. >> All right. Thank you, council. Now we'll move on to the treasures report. We don't have one at this time. And the approval of minutes. Madam clerk. Yes. May I get a motion to approve March 3rd and March 17th regular

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meetings and executive session meetings? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Moved by Council Deputy Mayor Worthy, seconded by Councilwoman Mintosh. Discussion. >> Yes. Um Deputy Clerk, um please revisit

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March 13, I mean March 3rd meeting. I wasn't present. Um, and it says that I wasn't present, but then in some of the a the yeses, it had me voting. So, just want you to clean up. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. >> All right. Any other discussion?

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Seeing none, roll call. >> Councilwoman Bron, >> yes. >> Councilman Anderson, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Mintosh, yes. >> Deputy Mayor Dr. Worthy, yes. >> Mayor Whitfield, >> yes. Sorry, I just need to make a note for myself. All right, Madam Clerk, do you have any

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updates this meeting? Um, I just have some election reminders. Okay, so just some primary election reminders. Please note that the following dates, primary election day is Tuesday, June 2nd. Voter registration deadline is May 12th, 2026.

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Early voting period is May 26 through May 31st. Vote by mail application deadline is May 26 and vote by mail application deadline in person is June 1st. Please note, if you are submitting your voter registration by mail,

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postmark dates are not guaranteed. Residents are strongly encouraged to submit their registrations as early as possible to ensure they receive and process on time. You're also able to apply online through the New Jersey voter info reporter. Some polling

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location details will be included on the sample ballots and have been shared across Willboro social media platforms and will be sent directly to residents a few weeks before the election. As a reminder, we strongly encourage residents to take advantage of the early voting methods. The township is working

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diligently to ensure the new location operates smooth operates smoothly. While we understand that some may not fully satisfied with the change, the decision was made to avoid any lastm minute adjustments that could create confusion to voters. In addition benefited to

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benefiting the residents, the new location will improve efficiency with the clerk's department allowing for a better overall coordination on election day. See, um as a reminder that currently we have

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um four peddler solicitors that have been approved um to go around. That is um Sun Run and Topline Roofing. This doesn't mean that they are not permitted if you have the no knock. Just because they're

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approved, it doesn't mean that they could still knock on your door if you have the no knock sticker listed. So, as a reminder, the no knock applications are available both online and in the clerk's office. And once completed, you will be issued a sticker to place visibly so that they're aware not to

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come to your door. And if you do have any people that are breaking the ordinance, then contact the clerk's office. All right. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Any questions for our clerk?

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Council Pra, thank you for your report. Um, question regarding the new voting polls. I know there was information posted virtually. Um, was information mailed to each person's home. Will that happen? >> Yes, the mailers will be going out a few weeks before the election.

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>> Yes. Okay. >> And they're on the ballots. Okay. >> The new locations are on the sample ballots. And do we have any flyers posted in the building for people just to >> We have we keep some at the clerk's office and we will have um additional when the flyers are finished um the

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actual mailers. We will have additional mailers that if anybody wants to pick up we have actually have posters um 11 by7 posters that are being um distributed. Um so what about that little turn style that we put flyers on? >> We can definitely put some in there as

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well. Yes. >> Thank you. >> All right. Any other questions for our clerk? All right, seeing none, we'll go to unfinished business. Um, the Hometown Heroes project

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um is here. I know that draft uh resolution went out. Counciloman Pum, did you have a chance to look over it? >> I did. >> Okay. And it was completed to your satisfaction satisfaction. >> Um, it was definitely well put together. Um, there were some questions. Um so I

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did have some takeaways. So I have responses to that. Um uh one of the questions that was asked uh was um how many um heroes will be selected per drawing. Um so for those who did not

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attend that meeting, the idea is to have a public drawing at the council meeting. Um, and the names that would be in the drawing would be names of residents and family members that submit their names to the parade and events committee. And

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um the parade and events committee will research to make sure that the person is a military um veteran or currently serving the military. So with that said, um how many selected per drawing? That's going to determine on how many polls we

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put up. So, um, in the material that I sent, I don't have the figures in front of me, but there was a cost, uh, for the actual, um, piece that holds the banner and then the banner. Um, so I think roughly was it like $160,

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uh, per banner. Once the polls are there, of course, that stays up. We don't have to keep purchasing that. Um, but because we don't have the polls currently up, that would determine how many we we draw. So if we have 10 polls then we would draw 10 names. So that

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that's to that question. And then um the other question was um how many drawings would be conducted annually and um we talked about two because we have Veterans Day and then we have Memorial Memorial Day. So we figured twice for

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the year and the additional question was how long would the banner stay up? So I did do some research and u most communities they will leave the banner up from one to two years. Um so again um in order to and that's done in order to

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allow for other family members of active duties to be able to be honored. Um so we were thinking a year this way we can get more people and then it's so basically a rotating year. So, we do the um selection and that person would be

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posted up the next year. Of course, taking down the banner, I think we should do some sort of a memorabilia and present them their um their flag. Uh let's see. I think Oh, another thing that I saw on the resolution, which is the only thing that I do one thing I do

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think needs to be amended, it says it's for US Army forces only, but the intent is for all military. So you could have been in the Air Force, you could have been um Navy. Um so it's that part I would say just to reward that for all uh

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veteran um military and right I think that's all. Yeah, that was all the questions um that was asked. All right, thank you Councilwoman Pone. Any other discussion on that topic?

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All right. Seeing none, um madame clerk, if you will, um make those adjustments and uh circulate that new resolution for council to look at. Um and we will uh

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determine to when to include that on um a meeting agenda. All right. Next for unfinished business, we have uh a continuation of the hearing for Diamond Dogs LLC, their club

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license. The uh hearing originally started on April 7th, and this is a continuation of that meeting. Um Madame Clerk, do you have the notes to just give a a briefing um of the matter that

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is being discussed? So, Diamond Dogs has an application for a club license that was submitted to the township clerk on August 1st. Um, the first um initial submission um had outstanding items, but they have

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since satisfied those items. Um, the applicant has since submitted all the required documentations in accordance with both the municipal ordinance and the state of New Jersey requirements. In addition, the applicant was required to publish um application accordance with statuto statutory requirements. The

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notice outlined the intent of the applicant and and provided the opportunity for public objection. Um I believe we had one comment. >> Think there are three. >> I think we had a few com uh public

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comments during the April 7th meeting. Um and then we had our chief of police um report on this investigation. All right. Thank you, Madame Clerk. Um we do have some additional information

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to be presented from our police uh department. Perez, if you'll come forward. >> Good evening, Captain Perez. >> Good evening, Madame Mayor. Good evening, city council. Um you have some additional information to provide.

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>> Yes. So our latest incident um occurred on Saturday, April 11th at Diamond Dogs. It was a um it was I guess a u advertised as a white lies party for young adults. Um when my officers

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arrived um on location, they observed um an excessive amount of juveniles in the young adults, sorry, in the uh in the parking lot loud music emanating from the parking lot itself. Um when the party ended up I guess it ended early or

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was forced to end early um they observed in the parking lot large fire breakout. Uh in addition uh a large group of these young adults flooded country club uh park. So of course my officers remained behind and they ensured that they move

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through the park in a peaceful manner. But again seeing a large group in the park like that is alarming. Um uh in addition they also went to Garfield Park Academy because we also got reports of a large group congregating in the parking lot of the Garfield Park Academy. some officers again also. So, we had them

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split different areas, following the crowd, making sure they move through the neighborhoods in a peaceful manner. Um, in addition to that, we had a motor vehicle accident involving three cars uh around Gabriel Lane. And the driver that I was arrested was an 18-year-old

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driver. And after he was arrested, when I asked where he was where he was coming from, he said that he's coming from Diamond Dogs. So those are some of a few of the uh obs in addition uh summons was issued to diamond dogs for the noise ordinance violation. So some of those are some of the issues that we encountered that evening on Saturday

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April 11th. >> Okay. Thank you. Captain Perez, if you could just hold for one second. Does um council have any questions for Captain Perez? >> When you say when you say a few, what number are we looking at? When you said a few juveniles, you didn't give a number.

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>> Uh I said I said excessive. Um, I don't I can't give you an exact count. Um, but I would imagine it unsafe where if something really pops off, we only have maybe six or seven officers there and

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we'd have to call other towns to come in if it would have went badly, but an excessive amount. I I would I was told hundreds. That's the number. I just don't have an exact number for you. >> Thank you, >> sir. >> Any other questions for Captain Perez?

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Deputy Mayor Worthy. >> Thank you, Ken. Perez, I just I'm curious. I don't know police operations. Is it um typical to follow crowds that disperse from a place to the other locations? >> Yes. And I I tell you the reason why. Can you imagine on your block and you

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see a group of 50 children, I'm sorry, young adults or young people walking down the street in the middle of the street on people's lawns. You know what we do is we try to follow them in a you know with a respectful space but to ensure that there's no property damage

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that no one outside gets assaulted. We we do this all the time as a routine for the safety of our citizens because again the influx of people coming into a neighborhood like that can be scary for anyone. So we ensure that we we serve as a deterrence just following behind and make sure that everybody keeps moving

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and gets get them out of the park as soon as possible. >> Thank you. >> Yes ma'am. >> All right. Any other questions for Captain Perez? >> Councilwoman Macintosh capacity. >> I don't know, ma'am. I don't have that answer for you.

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>> Right. If there are no other questions, um, thank you, Captain Price. >> Thank you. >> All right, we'll give Diamond Dogs a chance to come forward and make any additional statements. How you doing? >> Evening. Uh

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>> Daryl Coleman. >> One. Our sign has said 609 elite for at least two years now. So for a kid to say he came from Diamond Dogs is just um I don't believe that was said. Secondly,

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yes, we did have a party this Saturday. One of our members sons plays for West Hampton Voltec. They won the state the state championship and we were having a celebration for them. Yes. Did the did too many kids come to the event?

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Yes. But that was something that we had to deal with with our kids and how they communicated what they communicated with us. We ended the party soon and the police were in front of the building from 8:00 until the party was over.

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There was no noise told to us. They sat across the street at Willenboro High School from 8:00 until the party was over. They never came over and spoke the noise. We went and spoke with them numerous times. We tried to have communication, let them know what was

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going on. So, as far as that event goes, yes, there was a misjudgment on us and our kids and how they administered the information out, but that was a celebration for them kids winning the state championship. Um, and yeah, um, I

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hope that one issue, like I said before, time after time, we have to come up here and defend anything that we do. Um, and yeah, I just hope that this one transgression doesn't affect what we're trying to do. We haven't had any events

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going on like that since. This isn't the first child kid party that we had with our kids. Our kids are from the community and they want to enjoy themselves as well and we want to provide opportunity for them. What we

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see is that obviously that the kids want to come out and have a good time. As he spoke about, there was a fight right there at the front door while the police were standing right there trying to chastise us as we're trying to get the

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people out of there. This is the information I see from the camera. I wasn't there at the party. I came afterwards after everybody was dispersed. Like I say, the police were there the whole time from 8:00 until

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10:30 or 11 when they got everybody out. And that just reinforces what we're saying that if when the police are sitting across the street why and we're communicating with them, is everything okay? the from what I'm from what I'm

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understanding it was a flux at one time and the police were more on the owners on the owner that was speaking with them then as far as helping us and security get the people out of there. So that was a isolated event. We will no longer be

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having youth events at the building and that's what I was like to say about that. Thank you. >> Thank you Mr. Coleman. If you would just hold for a minute. Are there any questions for Mr. Coleman. All right. No question. Uh um Deputy Mayor Worthy. >> Thank you, Madam Mayor. Um Mr. Coleman,

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when you say no youth events, are you referring to just celebrations or are you saying youth program? >> No. So, usually the question I ask if someone says I'm having the sweet sweet 16, grandma going to be there, is auntie going to be there? If those are the people that are going to be there, then

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I know that you're it's a family event. You're not in you're not just chaperoning your kids party. Any parties that we've had that have been youth parties have been from our kids, kids that we have that are in high school or

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uh junior high and those things. So any youth, we've had youth parties before and they've all went off success successful, excuse me. This was just something that just got out of our control one time and we definitely apologize and that was a lack of judgment on us especially at the timing

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of the incident. >> No, I appreciate that. I'm just trying to be clear so I understand when you say no youth. >> When I say no youth events like no events where we're having a youth DJ, there's kids dancing and those type of events. Sweet 16s. Yes. If you're if dad

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and mom are throwing something for their girl, yes, of course we're going to have those type of celebrations. But no, no more youth part. >> So the the if the family members are if they're renting a hall to have a sweet 16 event. >> Yes. Well, >> as far as youth, anything else is usually adult. That's usually the

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monumental event that they have at the building. So okay, >> sweet 16s would be the only ones and we would make sure that that's limited to just family and friends. >> Thank you. Okay, >> Councilwoman Pan. Okay. I I know I had to step out for a minute, so I didn't

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hear the whole report. Um but I did hear in conversation with council and some of the discussion prior to this meeting right now there was alcohol being served. Um >> no absolutely not. >> Was there alcohol there? There was no alcohol being served.

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>> Absolutely not. Absolutely not. Not at all. >> That's my question. That's what I heard. >> All right. Thank you, Counciloman. Thank you, Mr. Coleman. All right, Captain Press, >> thank you. Just a quick rebuttal for what Mr. Coleman said. He said that he

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didn't believe that the gentleman, the 18-year-old gentleman that was arrested for drunk driving, he told us upon his arrest that he came from Diamond Dogs. He's saying that he didn't they didn't believe he said that. Well, um, as a standard, anytime someone's arrested on the drunk for drunk driving, there is a

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state standard form. It's called a dra last last um it's a last drink report and it you have to tell you have to notif I mean document where that person bought their last drinks from. So that's how the state tracks which vendors are

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being irresponsible bartenders or venues with serving either underage or serving too much. So that form was completed and that's the information that was provided to us. >> And you said that it it was a drunk driving incident. It was a 18. It was a three-car accident. And the young man that hit the that that was involved in

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the accident was was 18 years old and he was arrested for drunk driving. Yes, ma'am. >> And he said he came from Diamond Dogs. >> Yes, ma'am. That's what he put on our paperwork. Yes, ma'am. >> Thank you, Captain Press. >> All right. Um, do we have any statements

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or um comments from council before we uh go into deliberation? Seeing none. Is there a need for deliberation? Do we have a need for deliberation on council for executive session?

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>> Okay. Okay. We'll retire to executive session um for approximately 15 minutes and then we will come back out um on decision. Before we go back to um executive session, I just want to

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confirm um Councilwoman Peron and Councilwoman Macintosh were not present at the April 7th uh hearing portion of this and I just wanted to get your confirmation on the record that you have

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reviewed that footage um to participate in the hearing today. >> You mean the footage of the meeting? Yes, the meeting footage that the testimony was given. >> I honestly did not um see it.

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>> Okay. So, you won't be able to vote in this hearing today. You can still deliberate, but you won't be able to vote if you did not vote if you didn't review the testimony. >> Okay. All right. All right. We um executive

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session. One one thing, Madame Mayor, I do have two new businesses. Did you want to do that after we come out of executive? Yes, we're in the meeting of a hearing right now. >> Okay. >> Can I get a motion for resolution 26-100, a resolution authorizing a close

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executive session in accordance with the New Jersey Open Public's Meeting Act for matters of deliberation and attorney client privileges. >> So moved. >> Second. Moved by Councilman Anderson, seconded by Deputy Mayor Worthy.

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Councilwoman Peron, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Councilwoman Mintosh, >> yes. >> Councilman Anderson, >> yes. >> Deputy Mayor Dr. Worthy, >> yes. >> And Mayor Whitfield, >> yes. >> All right, we'll be back out in about 15 minutes.

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Madame Clerk, we're coming out of executive session. Yes. Can I get a motion to come out of executive session? >> So moved. >> Moved by Councilman Anderson, seconded by Councilwoman Macintosh.

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All in favor? I >> any nays any abstensions? So moved. We are now back in public session. We're resuming the discussion for the public hearing

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um for the club license of Diamond Dogs LLC. Um before we take a vote, are there any other statements that council would like to make? All right. Seeing none, um, Madame

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Clerk, please uh, and uh, call the vote for resolution 2026-83? >> Yes. May I get a motion for resolution 26-83? A resol resolution concerning the application of Diamond Dogs, Inc. for

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club license. This motion is either to approve or to deny. >> We need a motion. >> Move. >> Second. >> Oh, no. >> Yes. >> Yeah.

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I back refuse. Okay. >> All right. I need a motion. So moved. >> Second. Moved by Deputy Mayor Worthy, seconded by Councilman Anderson. Any discussion? All right. Seeing none,

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um, approve or deny. Yes. So, when I call the motion, you'll just, um, when I call your name, just say if it's approved or denied. Is that how you want to do it? >> Okay. Councilman Anderson. >> Well, I got to go first.

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No, just just joking. Um, at the last hearing, I tried to find the best way. Anderson, >> would you like to have discussion first? >> Statement discussion. >> Oh, all right. You can continue.

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>> All right. Yeah, I I tried to find the best way that we can leverage this, but with the most recent updates in the report that we received tonight, I have to deny. >> Deputy Mayor Dr. Worthy, >> this is a this is very difficult because

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Willingboro is a community of diverse people, different residents, businesses, different priorities and perspectives. Um, and as the governing body, we are looking to do what we believe is best holistically for the community at this

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point in time. Um, so this was a a tough decision. Um, hence the deliberations for me at this time. It's deny. >> Mayor Whitfield. >> Um, for this license, we had a pretty

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extensive hearing and deliberations on this. Um, a number of things were brought in front of us and it was for us as the council to make the best decision in um terms of what is best for

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Willingboro as a whole. As deputy mayor said, we are we understand that the owners of Diamond Dogs are residents, right? They live here. They are part of the community. um and we wanted to find

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a way to include them um as you know with their requests. Um unfortunately at this time um we don't think that that is the best decision but uh the establishment is still eligible for

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social affairs permits and um a possible revisit of this issue at a later date. So at this time I will be deny. Okay. With three denials the resolution is voted down. It will be um amended to

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also reflect um in paragraph 6 and 7 the meeting date of today April 21st which was the continuation from April 7th meeting the mic. >> Oh I'm sorry. It's the applica the club

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license application is denied. >> Thank you. >> Okay, with that all right with that the hearing for the matter of Diamond Dogs LLC club license

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is now closed. Um we have a few items of new business. Um at the town hall um held by Assemblyman Singh just last week. Um there was a

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number of concerns that were brought up. Um, one of which was about community solar and how um, our community could participate in a solar projects where um, solar panels may be installed on

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businesses but the business wouldn't necessarily have to front the entire cost for that solar project. It would increase our contribution to the grid, but uh residents would be able to uh take part in that community solar

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project and reap some of the benefits on their own energy bills um from the energy that is produced. So, um, we have or I have a letter that'll be sent to council for review, um, before it is

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sent out to residents just to get your approval on the program. Um, and, uh, we can answer any questions about the community solar program before we decide to release it to the community, but I just wanted to introduce it to you all tonight.

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Um, we did say a little bit about the interns that are coming, so Mr. Harris, thank you for that. Um, is there any other new business? Seeing none, >> I had unfinished business. >> Oh, you had other unfinished

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business. >> Unfinished. Oh, we moved on after we moved on to new business. Do you >> Right. Because you need to go back. >> Yeah, because you said you wanted to deal with the diamond dog, >> right? >> Okay. So, um, Councilwoman Peron, you had some other unfinished business.

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Thank you. Just two things. Um, we spoke last meeting um about the free pool tags and um the recreation department did present three scenarios. I thought we picked one. >> We did. I just wanted to know did we have any updates on the pool tags and

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>> Miss Harris? >> Good evening. So, at the last council meeting, um the council motioned to designate uh free days for the pool this summer. Um Fridays will be those days. Um, so every Friday in Willingboro at the country club pool, uh, residents as

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designated by the council from grades K through 12th, resident students grades K through 12 will have >> free >> I'm sorry, >> was prek3. >> PreK3 um will have access to swim at the pool for free.

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Is there anything else that >> Right. How are we tracking that? So is it just they have to have anything or they just come? just >> so we're working on the operations of it. Um we'll have um our digital platform um available at the pool for

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our pool uh geek guards to track that. We're asking all the residents, the parents, we've connected with the schools, BCIT, um the school district, Banicker as well. We reached out to all of those

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locations and asked them, we sent a letter to the school so that they can send a letter to the parents um instructing them to sign up with the my platform. Also letting them know that we'll be transitioning to a new platform um but this summer that we need everybody to be signed up on my so that

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we can properly track everybody that's going to be coming in the pools. >> Okay. Thank you. >> No problem. >> All right. One last item. Um, so as you saw, today we had our first opening budget meeting. It it started at 4:00. I work in the daytime, so I'm traveling

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home, so I don't get here till 5:00. So I did not um get to participate in the budget meeting. And I know we have two more coming up tomorrow and Thursday, it's at the same time. So aside from being a city council woman that's not able to attend, I know that there are

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residents that live in Willingboro that are working families that are traveling at that time. So, I recognize that um the presentations are coming from the staff. However, um there's two two um

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unfortunates for the residents. One, it's at 4:00. Number two, the virtual participation is not on. So, even if I wanted to, and I did speak with the clerk, I said I probably can log in while, you know, listen, if I had a

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question, I wouldn't be able to ask a question. And um I know Councilman Anderson was not able to physically be in the room, but he was virtual. He couldn't ask a question. So I I as far as virtually and I did ask about this the last meeting um where we need to

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revisit and make sure that our technology is working so people can ask questions and have public comments. We voted on a few items today regarding um ordinances and resolutions and ask the public that we have any questions. Most

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of the people in this room work here. If I scan the room right now, most of the people in this room work here. So, um, I really would like for us to utilize our technology. We spent a lot of money on these cameras, the television screens, and now we're not using it, so it's full

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capacity. So, I do want to bring that as a concern and for council now that we're all present um regarding that that issue, how we're going to engage the community to our budget hearings and make sure that they are able to participate um if

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we're having it at 4:00 when they're at work and if we're also not allowing for virtually communication. So, what can we do about that? Well, we do um the budget hearings are streamed and recorded on YouTube, so the

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public can go back and review the footage. Also, any questions, comments, concerns can be sent to the clerk's office or the manager's office or myself um for consideration. So, as far as communication, you want everyone to email their questions prior

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to hearing the presentation? No, they can hear the presentation because we won't be voting on the budget until May. The public clearing is May 5th. So the hearing for the budget is on May 5th. So that's when they have

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opportunity. These are just like work sessions, >> right? And then what time is that hearing? >> It's at the >> the regular council meeting. So um but then again our technology that we purchased, we're not utilizing it. Why is that? >> We are utilizing we're not able to No,

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I'm sorry. Madam, >> our meetings are recorded. They're also streamed posted on YouTube. >> I just want to be clear. I'm speaking about communication uh transparent communication where we were having it before where the people who were on, we even had professionals

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that were on our screen speaking to us virtually. >> That's what I'm talking about. That aspect has been turned off. So, when are we going to turn it back on? For them to speak to us like in the courtroom when they having in inmates wherever they are

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or attorneys, they're able to speak through the television. That part is what I'm speaking about. When are we going to turn that back on? >> Um, if there is a motion from the floor to reinstate that um

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that operation, then we can do that. Can I just add one thing? I think there was we were concerned about people g being missed on there and being giving everybody an opportunity if somebody was missed. There was people saying they like their hand wasn't seen. Someone

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actually has to monitor that those meetings like a moderator which we don't have. So we miss anybody. If someone had their hand raised and we didn't see it or we didn't get to them then it's not fair to them. >> Okay. >> That was one of the reasons why. >> All right. And so before you came, I

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know you were new here, we had it for years. People were able to raise their hand and the IT department were able to click their name and they were able to speak with us. So that problem that really is not a problem um because we were able to navigate through that and

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the courtrooms, they have people communicating with them in the business day and they're able to pick people to speak. So um again like madame mayor said um cuz this is a question just so you know madame mayor that has been proposed by re residents why is the

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meetings why can't I participate why do they make it at 4:00 why can't so I'm asking a question on behalf of the residents and this way they hear so the motion is can we turn it back on do we have a second from any other person in the council that cares to hear from the community virtually because we would

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need a second to move it forward do we have a All right. Seeing no second, um there's uh we cannot move the motion forward. >> That's fine. >> All right. Um with that said, we're on to the public comment portion of our

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meeting. You'll have four minutes for any general item. Um, please come to the microphone and fill out a comment card to give to our clerk. Um, if we need to contact you.

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>> All right, hold on one second before we do public comment. We had a um issue for new business from Councilman Anderson. >> Yes. Um, I know round about 2020 2021 we did our strategic plan. Uh the goal was

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to bring the employees, the directors, just have a wholesome community and I don't believe that we had an opportunity to take the temperature of what's happening. Um there are a lot of conversations going on, a lot of conversations being had and I just want to make sure that the morale of the

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environment is what council expects it to be. We don't, you know, know everything. Everything's not reported back to us. So, I would like to get the support of council if we can engage labor council to just give us an update to, you know, to see where that strategic plan is to see if we're if

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it's working, if it's not working, you know, if it needs to be tweaked. So, I think, you know, we took the time to put it in place and at least from the perspective of the employees, it gives them a chance to be heard, you know, based on what we thought our intentions were. So, I just wanted to follow up on

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that. So, if I can get a motion to support that or Yeah, a second because I'm making a motion. So, a second to support that. It'd be greatly appreciated. >> All right. Is there a second for um labor council to um gauge the

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temperature of the environment and morale in um the comm in our employee? >> Second. >> All right. It's been moved by Councilman Anderson, seconded by uh Deputy Mayor

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Worthy. Any discussion? Seeing none, uh, roll call. >> Councilwoman Peron, >> yes. >> Councilman Anderson, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Mintosh, >> Deputy Mayor Dr. Worthy, >> yes. >> And Mayor Whitfield, >> yes.

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>> All right, one more. >> One more. That's it. It's been a long night. Um, I I have noticed well during the snowstorm and since then that the director of public works has been using his private car to get back and forth between locations. So, I just wanted to

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find out what was happening with the director of vehicles. I do see him parked in the parking lot. Mr. Lowry has been using his car to go between buildings, you know, within township, within the scope of their work. And I just didn't know what was happening. So, if it's something, you know, we can get answers for it. don't have to be

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tonight, but I just want to put it out there. So to see Mr. Chapman in a snowstorm and his car is not working and he can't get to the to to the yard. I just I just don't understand, I'll put it that way, why that is. And he's a vital vital role. Gary's not as

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important, but Mr. Chapman has a vital role. Just playing. So >> Mr. Harris, do you have any update on that or would you like to provide a report at the next meeting? Yeah. To what? a fleet.

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>> Okay. You have any other question? You have followup, Mr. Anderson? >> I know at one point the directors were driving the Ford Explorers. I'm not referencing work trucks. I'm I'm referencing the Ford Explorers that each director had an opportunity to use. So,

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not hearing not knowing not knowing anything, I just noticed that they're parked outside, which is I don't know if they're leased, we're paying for them, but I just didn't understand what the change in direction was. That's all. Just an observation.

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>> Okay. So, Mr. Harris, for the next meeting, would you be able to provide us with the um vehicle policy again um and the listing of any um any employees that have have vehicles and have access to

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vehicles with that distinction. All right. Thank you, Mr. Harris. All right. And now we are on to public comment. Oh, okay. So, now we are on to public comment. this public comment. You'll

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have four minutes um on any general item. Public comment is now open. >> Thank you very much. Hi. Good evening, Mayor Whitfield. Uh Deputy Mayor Dr.

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Worthy and council members, my name is Ria Hood. Um, I am the director of an organization called Employment Strategies Unlimited. Um, I've been communicating with Miss Scott. Hopefully, she was able to get you uh some packet information from me. Um,

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yes, you didn't get it. Okay. If not, make sure you get it this evening. I'll forward it over again. Um, nevertheless, um, I am representing a workforce development, um, organization.

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Uh, in the beginning of this year, um, I worked with some of your recreation parks staff to put together an initial department, initial proposal for the New Jersey Department of Protection um, for a grant proposal for a youth summer

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initiative. And for the first round of that grant, uh, it was accepted. And so what that will offer is some internship opportunities over the summer for up to about 10 youth with a paid summer experience. Um, I wanted to come

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before you and present that opportunity. Um, and just let you guys know face to face um, what that opportunity is. if there are any questions for it. Um, I'll pause momentarily to answer. But at this time, um, before contracts are signed,

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before the opportunity, um, is inked with the Department of Energy, uh, excuse me, the Department of Environmental Protection. Um, they would like for me to refine redefine the proposal a bit. Uh, they

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want this to be collaborative. They want this to be community-based. Uh they want the youth that participate in this experience to have something u me memorialative. Um that is reflective of the town and the town's goals. Um so

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that will be in the packet that you receive. um a couple opportunities uh that D uh presented, but um what I'm here basically to say is uh I would like to uh request a person

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within the town to work with with this opportunity um to make sure that it reflects Willingboroough's goals um and its initiatives and to make sure that this is uh a good and safe uh summer opportunity. I'd love to be able to

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participate in Thursday's tableabling event to present this. Um, I know this is last moment, but if I could work with an individual to present this opportunity at Thursday's event, I would like to be able to do that and I'll pause for questions.

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>> Thank you, Miss Good. So, we answer questions at the end of public comment um or you know give additional feedback, but um I think Miss Scott has your information and we will get back to you and make sure that you're in contact with someone.

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>> Just want to make sure she received my e Did you receive my email? Did >> Okay. Yes. I didn't receive anything. I'll make sure that we have that right. Okay. >> All right. Thank you, Miss Gun. Any other public comment?

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Okay. William Weston, 44 Biles Lane. Yes. Just giving glory to God. I feel like I'm in church for some reason. Uh but and I I'm glad to hear about the new trash contract. And I'm just representing myself as a as

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a citizen. And you know, I'm presenting this with no malice, and it's really just about accountability. Uh, Councilwoman Peron, last council meeting, you shared some statements that were culturally insensitive and could be

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deemed as offensive. These include the statement, "Mexicans know what to do with grass." Uh, you know, we had the solicitor walk over to you and you still continued. Uh it became a clip that went viral on

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social media and yeah it it was wasn't a good look. I was in the building when you made those statements and honestly I regret not saying anything at that meeting. As a council woman you bear significant

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responsibility. You resent you represent our town. You represent the council and you represent us. You read a statement earlier and I fear you did not recognize your offense.

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Do you realize how your statement was inappropriate? It's concerning. It's concerning that that you don't seem to grasp that. Uh the statement you read didn't seem like an apology and I don't know if it was

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supposed to be. accountability. Who holds you accountable? The residents hold you accountable. And so I'm asking you if you do recognize that you made a mistake that you acknowledged it and apologized sincerely.

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And if you feel like you did nothing wrong, then then share that. Um but that concludes my statement. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Wilson. Any other public comment? >> Good evening. Marcus King, 135 Turington

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Lane. Um I know that the clerk and uh council and um have been working hard on changing our our polling locations. I think it's very important if we could get something out now to the residents and then also during election time only

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because it's significant change within our community and um I spend a lot of time going door to door um talking with residents and um some residents still don't know um this is happening especially our older residents who who may not get out and I just think it

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would be um important um that we get that information as soon as possible and then be able to follow up um when election time comes. So just just a thought. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. King. >> Good evening. >> Good evening.

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>> Um I'm Dexter, uh 44 Spiral Lane. Um, I rushed down here for work. I I work all the way in Clifton. I rushed down here because I couldn't I couldn't not make this meeting. And I want to say on behalf of

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my family, we were offended by last week's meeting, too. Um, I pride myself on being a person that is inclusive. Um, and because my neighbors are Mexican, you know, like I don't think that that

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the statement was appropriate, you know, like I we as as black people, right, have already come up against a lot of adversities and I understand where you were going, but I I just think that as as loud as it was, it was offensive to a

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whole bunch of people. Um, Mexicans are not the only ones that are good with grass or making grass grow. Um, I have another neighbor on my other side and he looks just like me and his grass is green. And I think if we don't want

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people to um say like all black people like fried chicken and watermelon, we have to we have to keep that same that same energy when we make our statements. Um, my daughter was watching it. It has it has been viral on a lot of different

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platforms and I was just like, "Wow, how do I explain that to my daughter who is a a a young kid that's watching our council member, the people that we put in these positions as a community, right? How do I explain that to my daughter to be inclusive to her neighbor who is Mexican? Does she just say, "Oh,

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you you're Mexican. You like to you're going to be short and you like to grow grass." So I I I think that we owe the people that because not all black people live in in it's a very diverse community, right, that live in Willenboro. And I think we owe it to our

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our brothers and sisters that are our neighbors an apology. I I truly feel like that in my heart and I I think that because of your your stature and and because of your you know we voted you in here to represent us as a

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community and that did not represent us cuz that is not how I feel about my neighbor. I actually apologized to them cuz I was embarrassed. I'm still embarrassed. Um so that's that's all I had to say. But I I I wanted to make my voice heard and I didn't want to miss this meeting. And most of the time me

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and my wife, we try to come and we try to be active members of of the community, but I I I'm I'm a little bit embarrassed to say that I even brought my house here. I pay taxes here, my daughter goes to school here uh because of that statement. And I just want us to all take that into

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consideration. We don't want people to, you know, to classify us or put us in a a box. And I appreciate I call him Mr. bow tie man. But I appreciate him trying to to step up. But you doubled down hard and said if somebody, you know, if they

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want to sue me, sue me. But it might not be the n the the neighbor that's Mexican uh that sues you. It might be a person that look like me because that's not how we all carry ourselves, you know. So just want us to take that into consideration. Thank you.

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>> Thank you, Mr. Ratty. Any other public comment? Seeing none, public comment is now closed. All right, Miss Hood, um thank you for your comments. Um the we're always glad

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to see additional um programs come to Willingboro, especially funded through grant opportunities. Um this one you said will provide 10 internships to youth um locally and I for one as a um

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city planning uh have my masters in city planning and workforce in development community development I appreciate the work that you're doing um and um we'll put you in touch with Mr. Harris and Mr. Lowry um and Mr. Buchcci to see what we

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can do to help advertise these um forthcoming internships. All right. Thank you, Miss Hood. Um Mr. Weston, well, we'll leave that one for now.

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Um Mr. King, for the timeline on the flyers, I think, um Madame Clerk, uh are the flyers also going out in the schools? Can you just give us a rundown of the timeline for the flyers and if

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we're able to um move that timeline up any? >> Okay. So, I know um since we the final approval of the flyer was done, I know it's been on our Willenboro weekly. So, ever since we approved that um and I believe recreation even included in one

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of their newsletters to the schools um the polling locations, we have flyers printed here. As far as the mailers, I don't have a specific day because there is a processing time, but since we got approval to move on that, that has been sent out to the printers. Um, they had

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already approved the, you know, the wording and everything like that. So, there is a process time. Um, I think they said six to seven days. So, I didn't want to say a specific time when the mail goes out. It's going to go out similar to the calendars went out. >> Okay. Um, and I

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I know we printed out posters and I've had um a couple people come by and pick out pick up posters to distribute and hang. So, they are out and we do have some in the clerk's office and you know, if anybody wants any, we're more than welcome to print out some for them.

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Okay. Um, so, Mr. King, I hope that answers your question. And if you if you'd like um additional flyers or anything like that, please see the clerk's office and they'll make sure that you get that if you want to help spread the word as well.

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>> All right. Um Mr. Weston and Mr. Rody, I think, um Councilwoman Peron, if you'd like to Thank you. Um thank you for your um comments and that and thank you for being respectful when you were at the microphone this evening. So, first, no, you don't represent me. I'm Guatemalan

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and Puerto Rican. I represent the Italian the Latin community and what I stated was the facts and what I read this evening which I didn't read at the last meeting were the statistics of the United States. So, as I read earlier,

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this is the statistics of the United States. Now, I'm not sure if you read status. When you read the status, it speaks about populations of people. So, that was speaking the facts. They are excellent landscapers. I don't know how somebody

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can misconstrue saying a population of people are excellent at a job or doing something great. To say somebody does something great and you take it to something offensive, there must be something wrong with that individual. And I did see the social media post

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which was only posted about when I said they're good at grass. So I wanted to add more vocabulary to my statement. This is not an apology. I didn't offend anybody. I definitely didn't offend my own culture. I complimented because they are excellent landscapers and according

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to the rest of the US, they agree with me. Okay. Now, your friends that I saw on Wesson's page said some pretty disgusting things agreeing with the the person at the top, okay, about deportation. Those those people should not be your friends on your Instagram. I

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think you should unfriend them, okay? Because those people are racist. And I read a lot of disgusting things that they said and they truly are evil people. But guess what? I'm not the Lord. I'm not here to judge them. But what I said was they are excellent. And

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if somebody says you're excellent but you find offensive, there's something wrong with you, not with me. So it's a compliment. It is a compliment. And if you did something great and I say, "Oh, you did something great." That's not an offense. doesn't mean because you did

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something great, nobody else can do anything great. We we have different times of the year where we recognize great people that have done great things. We have cultural events to recognize people, right, that have done great things. And when we recognize

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those individuals of those ethnicities, are we saying there's no other ethnicity that has done something great? No. We're shining light on an ethnicity, a group of people to say, "You have done something great. You are excellent at what you do." Only the devil will listen

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to that comment and try to throw dirt on it, which is what you did, Mr. Weston. And you should be ashamed of yourself because you do have a platform. And if your friends are talking about deportation, you know what? They shouldn't be your friends anymore because we are a community of the United

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States which means multiple ethnicities. I'm second generation in this country. My mother migrated from Guatemala here. My father is Puerto Rican. Okay. Your story. You don't represent me. You don't represent me. I'm a female. You don't

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represent me as a female population. You don't. And I'm also a Christian woman. You don't represent me there either. But you're not here to represent me. So, I'm not making an apology. Why? Because I am proud to be Latin. I'm proud to be black

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as well. And I'm proud that they are excellent landscapers. And any fool that misconrs that, it's exactly that. You're a fool. The attorney came over to me to tell me, you can't say hire Mexicans. And he was right. The reason why he said

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that is because any company that wants to do business with us, there's a bidding process. In order to not discriminate, anybody can apply to be the landscaper. Any company can. It doesn't matter your race. So, he was right about not saying who to hire. But

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what I continued to say is compliments on how excellent they are. I said, "Oh, excuse me. I'm not supposed to say hire Mexicans because I'm not." Bidding process. You put your bid in. We are supposed to vote on the lowest bidder, but I can continue to say they are

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excellent landscapers. So, you don't have to apologize to your neighbors for me. You could actually give them my phone number. Okay? Because if they are landscapers, that's great. If they're not, then that's great. If you're a landscaper and you're not Mexican, that's great. But according to

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statistics, what does it say? They are the number one experts. So, I said that last meeting and I said it with data this meeting. So, don't take it as an apology or anything because it was not meant to be an apology. It was an

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additional compliment. Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman Pum. Well, once again, I'd um just like to say that yes, um I do acknowledge that Willingboro is a diverse and welcoming

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township, and statements that generalize or stereotype any group, regardless of intent, do not reflect the values of respect and inclusion that we strive to uphold here. I understand why my many people may have found these remarks

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troubling and it's important to acknowledge that words matter especially in a public forum. I also want to be clear that the comments made on April 7th and tonight um do not reflect the views of the entire council. Um we

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remain committed to serving every resident with fairness, dignity, and respect. All right. And that was all for public comment. We'll move next on to council

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comment. Council, >> Mr. Anderson. >> Yes. Just want to thank everyone for coming out. Want to thank the uh directors for their budget presentations. The only thing that I hope is the presentations you got you can stick to. Uh because I don't want to

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see a lack of resources. I don't want to see things go in a reverse direction because you agreed to a budget that was put in front of you. So, I hope you can stick to what you agreed to what you wrote down. And also, I know Mr. Chapman's been catching a lot of slack.

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I know your manpower listening to the budget presentation. Based on your presentation, you should have roughly 43 employees. You're down to about 20. So, I just want to applaud you for the hard work that you put in. I know you guys are working double time harder. I know some of the guys who work double shifts

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just to make ends meet with the limited resources. So, I just want to give you some kudos on the work that you put in with your limited resources. Thank you. >> Thank you, Councilman Anderson. Any other um council comment? >> All right, Council P.

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>> Thank you. Um, again, I know we spoke about this earlier, but I really hope that um, you all reconsider um, virtually communicating. Um, the young woman that came up here and spoke, you know, um, I'm glad she was in attendance, but again, the audience in

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this room are the employees, and I feel that it's sad that you don't want to hear from the community. Um, but I think we can do a better job with that. And I'm hoping that at a later date you may reconsider and want to hear from the entire community and really not wait for Facebook because the people want to hear

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people want to be able to communicate with us and we bought the technology and it's being deliberately done where you're not making it available for people to communicate with us virtually and I think that's a disservice to the community.

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>> Thank you Councilwoman Pon. Any other council comment? Uh, Councilwoman Macintosh. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, in addition to our community cleanup, I do want to remind the community that Queen of Fua will be here on Saturday. I think it's a great

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opportunity. International Healer. Um, I think we need some healing in Willingboro. Um, so I would I would um definitely make that a event to attend. It's at Chakra Soups, which is at Beverly Rancokas. It is not a

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Willingboro event. Let me be very clear about It's not a Willingboro event. However, I personally do think that it's a benefit to our community. Um, we do have a lot of people with different diseases, mental diseases, and I think

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the food, our food source, and just new knowledge would be very helpful for our community as a whole. So, I would definitely recommend attending that event. Um again at Chakra Soups they're a business in Willingboro that is

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providing um vegetarian options for us. Um and there I think we're also being um the Chakra Soups is also being recognized as a holistic healing center um sanctioned by Queen of Fua which is which to me is really big for Willing Brow because I don't think there's any

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in the tri-state area or even tri-state well no they're probably in New York but not in the area. So I think it's a big deal. um check it out. They'll have um again a section for Queen of Fua um 12 to 8. So that's after we can you can you

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can attend after the community community cleanup. Um again, I think it would be very helpful for the residents of Willenboro. Thank you, Mayor. >> Thank you, Councilwoman Macintosh. All right, just uh a few last things. Once again, um it is our intent to make

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sure that our community um all members of our community feel included, seen, and um welcomed here. Um so I, you know, we do strive to continue that. Um and

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um you know, I appreciate uh those who come to the meetings and share their views. Um this is the form for you to do it. So, thank you for coming out tonight. Um, I also did want to mention the mayor's golf classic. We'll have an

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update at the next meeting, right? Uh, >> that's correct, Mr. Tonsl. >> All right. So, we'll have an update at the next meeting, but um we do always look for um local business support. So,

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if you have a business here in Willingboro and you are looking for an opportunity to support our students with their um with some scholarships, uh please reach out to the township to

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find out how you can participate or um be a sponsor in the mayor's golf classic this year. That will be happening on May 29th. Correct. All right. Also, um, one of my favorite events that's coming up are community cleanup.

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We'll have raffles. We'll have food. Um, right. Usually Chick-fil-A. That's a >> sandwiches have already been ordered. >> All right. Chick-fil-A. We'll have Chick-fil-A. So, we usually have food. We have raffles. Um, DPW does a great

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job. Uh, Mr. Chapman and Mr. Kevin Gaines do a great job making sure that we have all the materials that we need, trash bags, pickers, vests, um, and roots to go to make sure that Willingboro is clean as we go into our

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summer season. Um, it it's a really great time for everyone to just get together, meet some neighbors, and and all work together how we're intended to to beautify our community. I'm I'm almost done. Everybody had their

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chance to speak. I could speak too. >> Yeah. But it's um so I just wanted to um promote that it is on April 25th at JFK at 9:30 and 9:30 a.m. And with that said, um I

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will call for an adjournment. Moved by Councilman Anderson, seconded by Councilwoman Mintosh. All in favor? I. >> Any oppose? >> Any abstensions? Tonight, William.