[0:00] People need to hear you. Welcome to the Blairestown Township Committee meeting

[0:04] for March 26, 2025. We have an opening roll call,

[0:09] please. Kristen, Mrs. Mayber here. Mr. Lman, here. Mrs. Lance here. Deputy

[0:14] Mayor Orcott. Mayor Morhead here. Can we please rise to salute the flag?

[0:21] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the

[0:26] republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[0:31] justice for all. Adequate notice of this meeting has been

[0:37] provided in accordance with the open public meeting act 1975 chapter 231

[0:42] setting forth the time date place and purpose of this public meeting for a

[0:46] legal notice published in the New Jersey Herald andor the express times following

[0:51] the township's annual reorganization meeting at which the 2025 meeting

[0:54] schedule was adopted. Good evening everyone. We got a really full house

[0:59] here tonight. I mean this our budget meeting we had Lorraine, right? She she

[1:06] was walking in and I said uh she goes, "There aren't many cars here." I said,

[1:09] "You're in. You're in." You were, but always good to have you. Uh we will uh

[1:15] we'll start our meeting tonight with the uh our public comments. Any public

[1:19] comments? Tara, I kind of I well expected this. But I bought a friend

[1:29] and I'll explain.

[1:33] Good evening. Good evening. Um, Tara, um, I guess wearing the I8 to 611

[1:39] pendant NJOT hat, which is shifted a little bit because we're taking

[1:44] advantage of an opportunity because uh, granted us

[1:49] because the Explore Act was passed into law in January. So, I'm going to um

[1:56] speak to the resolution you have on the agenda uh for tonight and see if you

[2:02] have any questions about it. So, uh the reason for this resolution is

[2:08] specifically to request support for inclusion of the Delaware Watergap

[2:13] Recreation Area Local Communities as a gateway community pilot program under

[2:18] the Explore Act. So, I do want to read what the Explore Act is. The Explore

[2:24] Act, Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experience Act, Explore, was

[2:33] signed into law in January um of 2025. It seeks in part to foster and encourage

[2:40] responsible recreation on federal and state recreational lands and waters with

[2:45] an emphasis on enhancements to recreation areas, long-distance bike and

[2:50] hiking trails, high volume nonfederal public lands, and by mitigating negative

[2:55] visitor impacts on infrastructure and local communities by quote providing

[3:01] financial or technical assistance to gateway communities under an existing

[3:06] program or entering into public private partnerships, cooperative agreements,

[3:11] memorandum of understandings and such um in our

[3:16] communities. So that's in general what the explore act is out to do. There's a

[3:23] provision in there rel regarding gateway communities which is what we are just

[3:28] like Hardwick, just like Nolton, all of us on both Jersey and Pennsylvania. Um

[3:33] we are communities where in order to get to these places they have to travel

[3:39] through our our resources and we provide resources to those visitors

[3:45] accommodations, hospitality and whatnot. Um but we're also impacted by those

[3:51] visitors. So this is required by law is they're going to identify 10 gateway

[4:00] communities to participate in a pilot program that will

[4:04] be if nothing else quantifying how many visitors actually visit. You know are we

[4:10] not the most complicated conglomerate of access

[4:15] points to one of these? you know what's really a visitor when who's traveling on

[4:20] 80 and traveling on 611 which of those are really considered a visitor. So the

[4:24] quantify visitors um I do believe this will quantify um the visitor quantify

[4:30] the visitor use impacts on our communities and impacts in particular.

[4:34] You'll see Eric back there. You know I was at Hardwick's meeting where Eric was

[4:39] up there talking about um ambulance being up on the mountain 22 times last

[4:44] year. you know, when when our fire and rescue who were really created for the

[4:50] to serve the communities are up on the mountain, they're less available to the

[4:56] local communities for which they were created. Um, so just one example of

[5:00] impacts um that hopefully will get quantified. So, it looks like it's a

[5:06] 5-year program, looks like it's federally funded. um it doesn't create

[5:12] exactly what does that all look like because it's new. Um, so my the hope is

[5:18] that by participating in this program, we have the seat at the table to be a

[5:22] part of creating this national program. And by having that seat at the table, we

[5:26] can ensure hopefully that our complicated jurisdictional situation

[5:34] um will also serve others as this hopefully will roll out as a national

[5:39] program. So other people in our situations, we can serve. We can take

[5:43] care of our needs. Um, for example, in your resolution is the

[5:47] mention that um, you're you reaffirm that the township's commitment to

[5:51] maintaining the long-standing designation of the Delaware Watercap

[5:55] National Recreation Area as a national recreation area. By having that seat at

[6:00] the table, you can ensure that that's important to Blairestown. Um, that that

[6:04] designation doesn't change, that you can put in a plug for that every step of the

[6:09] way. So, this is really calling on our federal legislators to reach out to the

[6:14] Secretary of Interior and request that our our Delaware Waterg area um

[6:19] communities are included in one of these 10. Uh Warren County took the initiative

[6:24] to set this off. Uh they did that into February. Congressman Kane had a letter

[6:29] ready to go and that letter was sent immediately. So, that letter is in the

[6:33] hands of the Secretary of Interior um with our request. word is kind of

[6:37] catching up on the support that we anticipated would be there. Um so before

[6:42] I um let you know why my friend Christine is here, I want to ask what

[6:47] questions you might have about this question I have is wouldn't they

[6:51] consider all of the towns that are that surround that area as part of it anyway?

[6:58] No, because like um just like the Wild and Scenic River project that we're

[7:04] involved in, in order for your segment of the Palm Still to be cons to be

[7:10] designated, it requires local support. Same thing with this. It sounds like

[7:15] they're using that similar model. Whereas if a

[7:18] municipality doesn't want to be part participate in that in that gateway

[7:23] community then their section or they would not be included. So, it's not um

[7:30] they're not going to impose this on, for example, the northern communities like

[7:34] the Sussex County and Pike Sussex Pike. If they don't want this, if they're not

[7:38] on record um and their needs and their their situation is unique to them, which

[7:43] is very different than what we have going on in our Delaware Water Gap area.

[7:48] So, it's I don't um it's not automatic from what I read. So, what are

[7:55] the positives and the negatives? I don't see I don't I can't um Well, my glass is

[8:00] always perpetually 90% full, so it's hard for me to see negatives, but I've

[8:04] worked hard on that. Um I I wouldn't be here if I saw negatives. I I don't I

[8:11] don't see them. Um seat at the table. The positives are what I explained seat

[8:15] at the table to be a part of of a national program. Um why not?

[8:21] We're so positive. So fantasize. So the the the fantasy I have with this is um

[8:28] they want to this is suggesting that they might say okay we have overcrowding

[8:35] at Dunfield Creek and other fairly local resources that are also state you know

[8:43] we're unique because we have um the the what's the Warthingington excuse me

[8:52] we also have a as significant as as the Del Watergap National Recreation Area

[8:57] that parking lot is really federal I mean safe that's where part of

[9:01] Warthingington State Forest so when you have overcrowding there for example I

[9:06] think we would all agree and this is part of the reason I have Christine with

[9:10] us tonight um I think the Appalachian Mountain Club um and Catfish Pond would

[9:15] appreciate visitors being diverted to them and I think Blairtown with your

[9:19] interest in um ecoourism would appreciate visitors coming through

[9:24] Blairestown and and and using the services of your of our our our

[9:29] restaurants for example on their way up uh to Moan Outdoor Center. Um so this

[9:35] act is uh looking to do that kind of thing to to address overcrowding issues

[9:41] and whatever. So my fantasy is even our fire and rescue, what happens if they do

[9:48] identify? How do you resolve our what I call Horton here's the who situation?

[9:54] You know, the reason we can't get attention on 80 and they can't get

[9:58] attention on 611 is our situation in the gap is so watered down by being two

[10:03] states, three congressional districts, three different counties. What if all of

[10:07] a sudden we become some kind of a gateway community and that is recognized

[10:13] as some kind of an entity and they rec they say okay maybe our fire and rescue

[10:18] services are taxed because of providing services to the gap maybe maybe there's

[10:24] a way to compensate for that or maybe if nothing else there's an opportunity for

[10:29] training for like ropes the the technical rescue training because we

[10:33] have cliff climbers you know we have to rely on Portland Um, we're not I I don't

[10:38] believe anybody in our area is certified to do those kind of things. So, I see I

[10:44] see nothing but opportunity. So, what would they do like

[10:48] put things together or or whether whatever towns are incorporated into it,

[10:52] put package together or something so that they can give the people that do

[10:55] come to the area and come and that would be whatever the group decides to do. I

[11:01] think that is the open possibility. Yeah. I I think um and by us having that

[11:08] seat, we get to hopefully craft be a part of crafting. We are the ones with

[11:13] the problem. We are the ones that can fantasize about solutions.

[11:19] Yeah, thank you. Anyone else? I let you know why I have Chris with us. You teed

[11:27] it up very well. So, so I want to introduce my friend Christine who is the

[11:33] senior hospitality manager of New York and New Jersey for Appalachian Mountain

[11:37] Club and they on they run the Moheaggan Outdoor Center and since it's in your

[11:42] resolution and we're friends, I thought it would be only right to let her come

[11:47] here and just let you know the services that they provide up there for our

[11:51] community, which I enjoy personally cuz that's my Thanksgiving buffet and I go

[11:55] up there with my canoe and I love just being able to pull up to their lake,

[11:59] catfish pond, and dump it in and and paddle around and get my lake experience

[12:04] since Columbia Lake is no longer available to us. That's another story.

[12:08] But so I wanted to let if you don't mind, give Christine a moment to say

[12:12] what what she does up there. Sure. So my name is Christine

[12:16] Molinsky. I work for Appalachia Mountain Club. I've been there for just under

[12:21] three years. And one of the things that I am so proud to say to people, anybody

[12:27] can afford it. You could have absolutely nothing. Our town, this is a place where

[12:33] our town can go up there. You could swim for free. You could bring your own

[12:38] kaying canoe. You could bring a lunch. You could sit on the beach and you could

[12:42] enjoy that water. You could come up to our free music on the mountain. We have

[12:47] different types of things where people could come up and practice and try to

[12:52] figure out if they could be an artist or not. We like to explore different

[12:55] things. We have fishing. Um we partnered with the

[13:00] NJP. So it's free fishing. You come up there on your on the the day that they

[13:06] do it and um we hand out the fishing poles to the kid that gets the biggest

[13:12] fish, the most fish, the first fish, the last fish. They give us all these neat

[13:16] things to give out to the kids. Then for uh we have the Boy Scouts that come up.

[13:22] We comp them a cabin so they can come up and they can, you know, explore. They

[13:27] can camp out. We have camping with a buddy up there. We do all these neat

[13:31] little programs where people can come up and and really enjoy it. It's it's slow.

[13:37] It's off the beaten path. We we're the Appalachian Trail runs right through my

[13:42] camp. um where New York, my other camp, they trip on the business and it

[13:48] obviously helps them. So Moheakin could definitely use a lift to keep something

[13:55] like this going. We lease the property from National Park Service. So um you

[14:00] know, we go into like these 10-year leases or whatever. So I would love to

[14:04] keep that going. you know, when people come through. We have a trail marshall

[14:10] that's going through Straburg right now showing like how the hikers usually go

[14:15] through. He he might be doing more of a pub crawl than most, but um but these

[14:20] hikers, they come through and you know, they'll they'll call the the limo

[14:25] service to get a ride down to do their laundry. They'll go over. We get groups

[14:29] that come up there and they do um they they have reunions and uh the the other

[14:38] Blair I can't think of all the different names of the different groups. We get

[14:42] different schools and stuff like that and then um reunions and they'll go over

[14:46] to uh the the brewery and they'll go down to Blaires Town and so they they

[14:53] are frequenting you know the the different stores and everything. So, it

[14:57] is helping the community and we we just want people to come up and enjoy it as

[15:02] much as we do. We're up there, you know, living their life. And, you know, we get

[15:08] we get some kids that come in, you know, from Philadelphia or from from New York

[15:14] and uh they come in a little bit, you know, hardened. They because that's the

[15:20] life they live. And when they come up there, they don't have to be tough. They

[15:25] don't have to be mean. They could just There's a there's a porcupine, you know,

[15:31] and oh my god, like how cool is this? So, we get to see another side and we

[15:36] offer something to people that it's it's just

[15:41] unmatched. That's what we do up there. So, I imagine

[15:46] and a Blair Town res. Yes, I am. And a North Warren student.

[15:52] So that's fantastic. And Mr. Mayor, may I ask a question? If

[16:00] there has flyers and stuff, would you like to send them to me so maybe we can

[16:03] post them on our Facebook page? Absolutely. I love that. Anything we can

[16:08] do to promote the cause? Thank you. It's a It's a neat place. And I've seen

[16:15] your I've seen your your passion on Facebook as well. A little bit

[16:19] everywhere. So, it's it it's good stuff, you know. I

[16:23] So, I grew up in Bloomfield and we just didn't have, you know, this beauty here,

[16:29] you know, that pond is is amazing, you know, and people can go up there with

[16:33] their own boat. They can go for free and and we rent them 15 bucks or four hours

[16:38] if they want to go up and pay, but you don't have to. So, we get we get mom uh

[16:43] the stay home rooms that come up there and they go up there and and we let them

[16:48] just use the space. We have a little nature center and kids come up with the

[16:53] bones and the furs and stuff like that. It's it's a cool little space and and it

[16:58] would be nice to keep it going. I think we saw on Facebook or somewhere you have

[17:02] a lot of events, you know. Yes. And you see the haunted trails that we had. That

[17:06] was a big thing. If you have We're not crazy about that. It's It's really good.

[17:12] Interfere with our uh That's okay.

[17:16] No, but there was a lot of cooperation there. Well, yeah, we actually were

[17:21] advertising for each other. Yeah, we were telling people at ours to

[17:26] go down to yours and we were telling you stand. Yes. Yes. So, thank you.

[17:33] Thank you. Thank you. Very good. Thanks for all your work. You're

[17:39] welcome. So, um I trust you'll let me know if you needed anything else.

[17:46] Thank you.

[17:51] Any other public comment before we move on? Seeing none, we will go to our

[17:58] department head reports for the month of February. We got Claire'stown Ambulance

[18:02] Corp, Claire'stown uh Fire Department Company number one, Department of Public

[18:06] Works, Police Department, Tax Collector, Township Clerk, and vacant and abandoned

[18:10] properties. We have a motion to accept the February department head reports. So

[18:15] moved. Second. All in favor? I. All opposed. All right.

[18:21] Um have some minutes to approve February 26, 2025. Our public session meeting

[18:29] minutes. Any discussion? I just wanted to make a comment that I

[18:34] would like you to put in the minutes that the reason why I objected is

[18:38] because I wanted to wait until the budget discussions. Could you please put

[18:42] that in advance for

[18:45] me on the uh on the open space?

[19:01] Do we have a motion to accept as amended? I'll make that motion. Second.

[19:05] All in favor? I All opposed. Okay. And uh we have a

[19:12] proclamation tonight. May you see here? Can you see

[19:18] it? I I can see it. Yes, I wore my wor my seeing glasses. Uh it's child abuse

[19:24] prevention month. It's April 2025. Whereas children are our nation's most

[19:29] vulnerable members as well as our nation's most valuable resources helping

[19:34] to shape the future of New Jersey. And whereas positive childhood experiences

[19:39] like loving caregivers and safe, stable, and nurturing relationships can help

[19:43] mitigate trauma and the negative impact of adverse childhood experiences to

[19:48] promote the social, emotional, and developmental well-being of children.

[19:52] And whereas childhood trauma can have long-term psychological, emotional, and

[19:56] physical effects throughout individual's lifetime and impact future generations

[20:01] of their family. And whereas childhood trauma including abuse and neglect is a

[20:06] serious problem affecting every community in the US and finding

[20:10] solutions requiring input and action from everyone. And whereas children you

[20:15] live in families with I don't think that's written correctly um with access

[20:20] to concrete econ economic and social supports are less likely to experience

[20:26] abuse and neglect. And whereas prevention is possible because of the

[20:30] partnerships created between families, prevention advocates, child welfare

[20:34] professionals, education, health community, and faith-based

[20:37] organizations, business, law enforcement agencies, and local, state, and national

[20:41] governments. And whereas we acknowledge that in order to solve the public health

[20:45] issue of abuse and neglect, we must work together to change heres and mindsets

[20:50] through storytelling and sharing center the needs of families, break down bias

[20:55] and barriers, and inspire action from expected and unexpected partners in

[21:00] prevention. And whereas we are committed we are committed to advancing equitable,

[21:05] responsive and effective systems that ensure all children and families are

[21:10] health and health and thriving. Whereas we recognize the need to

[21:16] prioritize kids and invest in more prevention initiatives like home

[21:20] visiting and family strengthening policies, economic supports and

[21:26] community-based child abuse prevention programs at the national, state, and

[21:30] local levels. And now therefore, it be resolved that the Township Committee of

[21:33] Blairestown Township hereby proclaim April as National Child Abuse Prevention

[21:37] Month and urge all citizens to recognize this month by holding a narrative of

[21:41] hope for children and families through collaboration and the creation of an

[21:46] ecosystem of primary prevention that does not currently exist in this

[21:50] country. Dated this 26th day of March, 2025. Mayor Rob

[21:56] Morehead, who should have proof read this. Sorry,

[22:02] I thought if it was a national thing, I would guess I did. Obviously, it's it's

[22:07] not reading is fundamental month.

[22:13] Um, all right. We've got a uh an ordinance uh up for public hearing and

[22:18] adoption tonight. It's

[22:21] 202502, the ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits

[22:25] for the calendar year 2025 and establish a cap

[22:31] bank and uh we are at that we're at that limit. We are at that limit. Joan, would

[22:38] you like to uh like to give us a little overview of

[22:42] why we have to do this every year? Yeah, we do have a cap limit in in our town.

[22:46] We're only allowed to welcome up to a certain percentage of our appropriations

[22:50] and currently we are at

[22:55] 3,874937. The cap tax is 3,8749 total. So we are about uh what is

[23:03] it 34 cents below our cap limit. So this is just uh an ordinance letting us go up

[23:11] to that 3 and 10%. Okay, we will uh this is a public

[23:16] hearing and adoption, so we'll open it up to the public. Any questions,

[23:20] comments about uh

[23:24] 202502? Seeing none, do we have a motion to adopt? I will make that motion. Roll

[23:31] call, please. Roll call, please. Mrs. Van Werberg, yes. Mr. Lman, yes.

[23:37] Mrs. Lance, yes. Deputy Mayor Orcott, yes. Mayor Morehead. Yes. An

[23:43] introduction of 202503 ordinance to amend section

[23:48] 184-20 stop intersections of code of the township of Blairestown.

[23:55] Where is this going to be? Is this going to be inside No Road by right be right

[24:02] at the where you come in from North when you come down from from uh we're

[24:10] opening road back up. So where road meets the high school meets down below.

[24:15] Down below. Yeah. That it's going to be a stop sign in there. Need a stop sign.

[24:18] There isn't one there already. Well there there isn't one for that little

[24:23] parking lot that's right there. That's the problem. There's a little lot there

[24:25] that needs a stop sign. There's two there's there'll be two stop signs

[24:29] there. Eric, we needed it. So, yeah, Eric

[24:33] Pizza put in the ordinance. Okay, we have a motion to introduce. So moved.

[24:38] Second. All in favor? All opposed. Move that one

[24:44] along. Our consent agenda tonight, six items. Uh 202539 resolution releasing

[24:51] executive session minutes completely unredacted. 202540

[24:58] uh the governor's council on substance abuses disorder uh the alliance to

[25:03] prevent substance abuse disorder. 202541 a resolution authorizing the mayor to

[25:08] execute the agreement between Blairestown TA Township and Celebration

[25:13] Fireworks. Um 202542 to 2024 tonnage grant application

[25:21] 202543 resolution requesting support for inclusion of Deliver Water Gap

[25:25] Recreation Area Local Communities as a gateway community pilot program under

[25:30] the Explore Act and 202544 approving vouchers and claims.

[25:37] Any uh discussion on consent item consent agenda items 1 through six?

[25:43] Motion for approval. Nope. I wanted to see if we could pull

[25:48] out 202541. Uh the fireworks.

[25:54] Okay. So, I would say I would be okay to discuss everyone, but leave that one

[25:59] aside. You want to discuss that first? I I would. Okay. Yeah. So, maybe we can

[26:04] lump it all together. Yeah. Yeah, that's fine. that. So, u my question was um the

[26:11] contract I think in the past um has been signed by the township but we've been

[26:16] provided with commitments of the financial backing from other

[26:19] municipalities and whatever was the fundraising that would be placed towards

[26:23] that by other businesses and other sponsors and I don't think we have any

[26:27] of that in place at this point. We are today I didn't receive any of it. Yeah.

[26:35] I emailed it to you when I got into the office. Thank you. Um, so the question

[26:40] then becomes it's still half. No, we're on the hook for three grand. Three

[26:45] grand. So if that's the case, uh, was there any discussion with regard to the

[26:50] police overtime or any of the other things? Are we are we committed for the

[26:53] three grand? We we comfortable with that. Yeah. I mean, that's that's what

[26:57] we do every year. Okay. Whatever they need from other towns or fundraising,

[27:01] they that's up to them. All right. Thank you very much for providing it to me.

[27:05] I'm I'm okay combining all of them. Okay.

[27:09] We have a motion. I emailed it. I just made one copy just in case anyone had

[27:14] questions so I can make a copy for you. Yeah. Go ahead. We're going to pass it

[27:19] down here. We're going to pass it down

[27:23] to No. No. I'm glad. I'm glad. No, it's important though.

[27:30] Yeah. Okay. So, um, Deputy Mayor Orcott made

[27:34] the motion to combine them and discuss them as one.

[27:40] Vote on consent agenda items one through six. So, I second that. Let's vote on

[27:45] one through six. All right. Roll call, please. Kristen. Mrs. Van. Yes. Mr.

[27:50] Lman. Yes. Mrs. Lance. Yes. Deputy Mayor Orpot. Yes.

[27:58] Caveat that I'm not voting on the PCFA. Oh.

[28:04] Oh, right. Okay. Mayor M. Yes.

[28:11] Two that need to just little caveat.

[28:17] Well, then we Yeah, we're not going to not vote on the bill. We're not going to

[28:21] not. We can go back and vote on it individually. It's like a $100. Should

[28:27] have made a comment. But it's okay. I don't want you in this four years from

[28:33] now. Making a campaign issue out of some

[28:37] unfinished business, our early voting date

[28:41] extension. Yes. So, at the last meeting, I um stated that our early voting would

[28:46] be here in the municipal building. Um and it was only going to be for two

[28:50] days. The next day, well, a few days later, I got an email stating that they

[28:55] are extending early voting. So, it's now going to be June 3rd um instead of June

[29:02] 6th. So, June 3rd until um Sunday before the election day. That's all. Okay. No

[29:09] problem. Um and uh GeoWorks just signed that

[29:14] today for the Walnut Valley Firehouse Remediation. Um few more

[29:20] tests that's all included in that that hopefully that last check we gave them

[29:24] and this No, I don't think so. I think there'll be another there's going to be

[29:27] another bill. No. Yeah, there'll be one another test.

[29:31] Yeah, they said there was two high salinity in one and it's bad sample one

[29:36] sample. Yeah, they could pass that first sample the second they had to do second.

[29:42] Don't ever let anyone test your soil because it will take forever to make it

[29:46] right. Um, okay.

[29:51] Yeah. Uh, new business. We've got uh application for facility use uh

[29:56] celebration of life foundation for June 14th for Quint Bridge Park.

[30:01] Um, anyone get a chance to look at that? I I have no issue with it. We've already

[30:07] received the check and the um insurance agent approved their certificate of

[30:11] insurance. I mean, it's you're not going to need the police or anything. No, it's

[30:14] like less than They do it every year. They never ask police.

[30:18] Yeah. Um uh the food shed alliance that's that's

[30:23] for the uh the use of the parking lot for our farmers market and that is

[30:29] contingent on um a few certificate of insurance from vendors. Okay. Uh and

[30:35] then uh Boy Scout Troop 140 using Sycamore Park on the 19th of May.

[30:40] Everything's good with that with a certificate of insurance. All right. And

[30:44] excuse me one second though. I was thinking about this. The baseball games

[30:47] and still aren't going to live longer. They already are um told about it. They

[30:51] do not have a games that day or soccer. It happens. This is another thing that's

[30:56] every year. So they they're all aware of it.

[31:07] The Boy Scout troop is for the uh the retire flags. They retired flags

[31:13] that day. Yeah.

[31:23] You know what that is, right? I I can't really read the

[31:28] It used to be London. Yeah. Now it's

[31:34] It's kind of hard to read, is it? Yeah. But what is that event? So again, they

[31:40] do it every year. Um this is the name of the church that does on prayer day May

[31:47] 1st um Pastor Mark Eagle I think his name is Eagle Conceal so sorry um comes

[31:53] to the municipal building with some other locals um other churches and they

[31:58] do a prayer around the flag hole. Okay. Again done it every year since I've been

[32:04] here with the exception of CO. All right. Uh and uh then the the

[32:11] the Playerstown Youth Softball shed maintenance request. So what do you have

[32:16] something on that Walter? You were just they're they're going to do it all under

[32:20] your under your supervision. Sure. Okay. And again, that's all um by the um

[32:27] insurance agent because they had to have a certificate of insurance. Okay. Do we

[32:29] need can we vote on these all in their entirety here? I mean really you don't

[32:33] you requested that I don't put repeats on, right?

[32:38] However, um I do put it on only because we need to make the public aware of

[32:42] things. Okay. We just do a That's fine. Nice. All in favor for all of these.

[32:49] Well, uh celebration of life pays us. So, we don't pay anybody out. So, we're

[32:53] good. We're good. All in favor. Okay. I'll make the motion to approval.

[33:00] Fantastic. We have a second. I have a second. All right. All in favor? I. All

[33:05] post. Great. All right. We love all that stuff. Uh there's a lot of

[33:09] correspondence. Is there anything in here of note that we need to pull out

[33:13] and talk about because a lot of it is Mrs. Van or sorry woman van mockenberg

[33:18] has requested that we um ask Jose Ortiz to come to one of our meetings to

[33:22] explain what the heck's going on. So with the permission of the committee,

[33:25] I'll I'll reach out to him and see when he come to the next meeting. Yeah. I'm

[33:30] sure he's sure he's not going to have much to say. No, I think you'll have a

[33:34] pack. Yeah, they don't have a a canned response that that's all that the

[33:39] communication guys do. They don't really they're not the numbers guys, so they

[33:43] they can't speak too much on billing. But,

[33:46] uh, it would be nice to hear because my bill has doubled over the past year and

[33:53] then we have a 20% almost a 20% increase coming up in June. Also, um I don't know

[33:59] if you want me to have Lisa Hibs come at a different time cuz she's the one that

[34:04] does the um the IDT, the energy um program. Yes. Did you see the email

[34:13] that they had said? Yeah, it's in your correspondence.

[34:16] Yeah, it's it's it's a it's a grim situation with we're all going to be

[34:20] eating candle light dinner come in today. Walter was there too and uh her

[34:26] her bill which she said she really never had to win $280 a month is 900 for two

[34:31] months in a row. Um actually you made a comment to me about tagging the mayor.

[34:36] Jose responded. Yeah. Instantly you did well I have to get the account number so

[34:42] so thank you. Yeah they couldn't find her. I think we're going to look her up.

[34:46] Uh but yeah, it's it's really a it it's going to get to the point

[34:52] where we're going to be paying more in electric than in taxes. That's how I

[34:58] those things that must I want to see electric.

[35:10] Let let us all know please be on that. uh from the township attorney.

[35:17] Relatively quiet mayor, but I I did note in in the package there's a couple

[35:22] letters that our zoning officer sent out to property owners

[35:26] with pictures attached that show quite a bit of junk and debris. Um, I've just

[35:32] recently been working on some ordinance uh upgrades and amendments and some of

[35:37] the other municipalities because uh, and I'll check with Dave on this,

[35:42] but um, a lot of zoning officers are running into a lot of problems enforcing

[35:46] their summones in municipal court. Municipal court can't issue bench bench

[35:51] warrants. They can't do trials by absentee. and the word has kind of

[35:56] gotten out on the street that if you get a zoning something, you can just ignore

[36:00] it at your leisure. Um, so it's become quite frustrating for zoning officers.

[36:06] Um, so and I I know also he's citing a an old privately operated dump

[36:13] ordinance, which is not really the best way to go about this. It also doesn't

[36:17] make it sound really good for the homeowner. I think a lot of them take

[36:19] offense to that. So, um I know but they're we know they're not operating

[36:24] dumps obviously. Some some of the picks are pretty bad, but um so I think for

[36:29] next month in advance of the meeting, I'll circulate u perhaps a proposed

[36:34] revis ordinance for you guys to start digesting. Maybe we can get a little

[36:37] little handle on these things. Process of trying to implement in some way other

[36:42] municipalities. I think it's kind of unique across the state, but I think

[36:46] it's enforceable. It's basically there are statutes that say we

[36:50] can, you know, if somebody ignores the zoning officer, we can actually do the

[36:54] cleanup and impose the cost as a lean, but the problem is that can be several

[36:58] thousand dollar cost. You got to dig in your pocket first and recover. Yeah. um

[37:03] we can add that permission to to a a proper property maintenance ordinance.

[37:07] But I also want to go one step further and and instead of having a summon issue

[37:12] potentially to have a a a notice of hearing. If a notice of violation is

[37:16] ignored, the next notice would not be a summon be a notice of hearing for

[37:21] here. And then this would be our due process here for anybody who wants to

[37:25] contest the nature of the notice violation that they've issued. if they

[37:29] don't show up, we can still drive them an absence again. And at the end of the

[37:33] day, if we find that the violation is is appropriate, um instead of cleaning it

[37:37] up ourselves, we would have our zing offer get a couple quotes, we would

[37:42] select the lowest responsible quote and certify

[37:45] that. And I think that I think that's uh it's a bit creative, I think, but I

[37:51] think it will put some heat back in zoning enforcement.

[37:56] um because it's not your judge's fault or anything. This is a statewide problem

[38:00] ever since the municipal court reforms um several years ago. Um but any I

[38:07] thought that maybe would looking at this we take a look at that maybe get

[38:10] something to you for the next month on that. Um and I think we also mentioned

[38:15] the dog the dogs u impound fee stuff. So I think you'll be see I'm working on

[38:20] that as well and a couple nice with Rob. So, I think you'll see something

[38:24] probably on that. Okay, very good. Thank you. Other than that, I think we're

[38:28] pretty quiet. Kristen, you have any reports? Um, just

[38:31] a reminder, May 16th there's shredding event will be held here in the municipal

[38:35] parking lot from 8 to 11th and spring cleanup will be May 27th through May

[38:40] 31st with vouchers being handed out April 2. April 10th. April 10th. April

[38:46] 10th. Oh, April 10th. We're having Thank you. We are having um a seminar here in

[38:52] the municipal building for seniors regarding the new anchor program. Um it

[38:57] is going to be held um by members of the state and they're also going to um I

[39:03] guess have a setup to log you on to the program and help you with that.

[39:10] So now I'm done. Committee woman Falconberg. Okay. All right. Uh, first,

[39:18] happy birthday, Lorraine. Lorraine's birthday was a couple of days ago. Hey,

[39:21] Lorraine, happy birthday. Happy birthday. She works really hard on on uh

[39:26] the seniors. And on March 5th, we had the pre privilege of hosting assembling

[39:31] the mail uh to speak to our seniors. We had uh seniors from more than our town.

[39:37] Other towns didn't come in uh for it. Was well attended and they had asked a

[39:42] lot of questions. He was here over an hour and a half answering answering

[39:46] questions. He got his money good. He got our money's worried about. Yeah. So that

[39:51] that was a nice a nice program. On finance, the committee met on March 22nd

[39:56] at 9:00 a.m. to discuss this year's budget. We're limited to a 3.5 cent uh

[40:02] increase in appropriations. A 3 and a half cent increase in not on taxes.

[40:08] Please don't think that that's taxes. percent percentage on the cap on the cap

[40:13] percent right percent in appropriations uh which became extremely difficult to

[40:19] maintain since the cost of living over the last 3 years uh 2022 was 8% 2023 was

[40:25] 4.1 and 2024 was 2.9. So this uh consumer price index was not reflected

[40:32] in our um ability to raise the cap to bring our cost up as as the CPI had gone

[40:41] up. Um that affected everything from labor to utilities to insurance and

[40:45] products. And just an example, our cost this year for salt alone the um CFO is

[40:51] telling me is close to 100,000 already. Is that more than we've ever paid for

[40:55] salt? That has to be an alltime high. Yes. Well, you know, if you look at the

[40:58] weather this year, it was very little snow and a lot of ice. Yeah. Lot of lot

[41:03] of a lot of ice. We went down to five below. Yeah. So, and they were salty

[41:07] constantly. I think every single storm they have a lot of salt going out. Um

[41:12] so, um we will be introducing the budget on April 23rd and the public hearing

[41:16] will be May 28th. Uh as far as shared services are

[41:20] concerned, we've received three different emails stating that the

[41:23] salaries from other municipalities are pensionable. Now we just have to work up

[41:28] our numbers. So yeah. Okay. Um uh the court we're

[41:35] just exploring possibly bringing the court closer to home. Um all right. In

[41:42] speaking with our CFO, she had made a couple of suggestions regarding um one

[41:47] of the things that we should really look at in changing and this is a change in

[41:51] our employee benefits to the Omni Healthcare only for any new employees.

[41:57] um the Omni there's a big difference between the Omni Healthare and the other

[42:02] healthcare that we were providing and she feels that the way things have been

[42:06] going we could you know everybody else gets grandfathered but any new employees

[42:11] we would only permit under the Omni Healthcare so I don't know if that would

[42:15] have to be a resolution as a change to there's a there's a form for that from

[42:21] from the state the only thing I just to offer the Omni Yeah. Yeah. And I'm not

[42:28] quite sure you're going to be able to do that to check it then because my

[42:30] understanding is they have multiple different categories about five. Yes.

[42:34] The last form I saw I just recently saw this in our municipality they state was

[42:39] indicating you must provide one in each category like there's an HSA there's a

[42:45] high level there's one where the omni is. So I I think Chris Christine better

[42:49] check on that. All right. No I'll talk about that to follow up on that. Uh the

[42:54] other suggestion that our CFO had made was um increasing the dog fees that uh

[43:00] possibly going um to you know in order to cover our acco rabies clinic our

[43:05] licensing uh maybe going 20 to 20 and 25 and 10 and 15 for seniors and and um

[43:13] federalists. So that's something else and that would be an ordinance change

[43:16] because I believe that's on ordinance the the values money that's there. So,

[43:21] that's another thing to think about. But, um, we have a lot of dogs in this

[43:26] in this town and you know, we are paying Well, when you say think about it, what

[43:30] what would what would spur any action to do with that? I guess a vote to to

[43:36] change something back in the next year. Yeah, I will. Yeah. I want to just

[43:40] reconfirm the numbers with Christine. We did raise, you

[43:43] know, last year. No, last year to 10 to$10 from $6. I think we're still very

[43:50] much on a lot of other towns. Yeah. We we kept the we kept the seniors and the

[43:54] veterans the same. We never changed theirs, right? So, we're looking. It's

[44:00] not a big increase. It really isn't. But, you know, as time goes on, between

[44:06] the the fees that the state is collecting, right, the rabies clinic,

[44:10] the licensing, all these different costs, if we can recoup a little bit,

[44:15] even uh you know, maintaining the dog park and everything, um it may be it's

[44:20] something's got to happen because do those like surprise vet bills also come

[44:25] out of that copper? Well, you know what? Every now and then

[44:30] we'll have the comes out of a dog, right?

[44:39] All right, that's it. Thank you. Give the name of it. Uh just an update on uh

[44:46] Walnut Valley septic uh for the field. Um all of the required uh permits were

[44:52] submitted to the health department. uh they uh our engineers have received back

[44:58] their uh report. Uh they had some comments that they're addressing. Uh

[45:02] they're going to check back with them after they resubmit their comments, but

[45:07] they should have that next week. Cool. Weather's getting warmer. It is.

[45:14] Um Committee Lance, thank you. Um well, just a couple things. First, I was very

[45:21] happy to be able to uh work towards uh the budget that's been uh discussed and

[45:27] will be presented shortly. Um I think the whole thing for that is to

[45:31] understand that uh the basis of allowing the cap bank to happen is not that

[45:36] anyone's raising your taxes. Um they they will go up, but the whole point is

[45:41] to be able to bank the ability to um work within our means. uh there's not

[45:46] any way that we can we can you know raise more money but that's not the

[45:50] point. Point is there are so many things that are just contractually obligated

[45:53] and we're limited to what uh how they're handled and how they're allowed to be

[45:58] funded. So I was happy to see that we were able to come to a good resolution

[46:01] for that. Um for we have two grant applications that

[46:07] we're working on right now for Blairestown Historic. Um, one of them is

[46:12] a renewal of uh the one from last year for the county um historic uh u sorry

[46:18] municipal trust and how it's going to work out hasn't been even announced yet

[46:23] but we're ready. Um the other uh one that we're doing is something through

[46:27] the state and we're looking forward to presenting some of the same information

[46:31] that we have towards uh receiving that. Um, in addition to that, there is an

[46:37] upcoming recreation grant which will be a renewal of the one that we got last

[46:40] year for the Walnut Valley Field. So, we'll be working on that. Eric, I think

[46:46] we're going to have to spend some time putting some more numbers together for

[46:49] our engineer for that. That was 70,000 if I'm not mistaken. Last year, last

[46:53] year. Um, but I think the the whole bit for that there there's a there was a

[46:58] limitation. So, what we're really waiting for is what is the number? What

[47:01] are we allowed to apply for up to? So uh but it's nice to see that that's

[47:05] progressing. What would you do with that grant? That's Walnut Valley, right? So

[47:10] it's a recreation grant. So the first grant was there for the uh diagnostic

[47:14] and planning and some of the different samples similar to the spot that it's

[47:19] adjacent to which they had all the pollution there from the uh W Valley

[47:24] Firehouse. So it's immediately adjacent to that. So the concern is that anything

[47:28] that's there is not going to have had any spread. Uh we're confident so far

[47:32] that none of it has. The samples that we're going are getting better and

[47:36] better. So I'm happy for that. The problem is the location and proximity to

[47:41] the uh uh the body of water that's there. I guess the tributary creek.

[47:46] Yeah. So that's that's a problem for that. But um it'll be very very nice to

[47:50] be able to see a functioning uh um septic in that building. That's I'm

[47:54] thinking I was thinking I'm looking at that picture. I'm thinking of the Borak

[47:57] property. Oh no no no. Pat would be happy. No, it is nice because the

[48:02] different facilities that we have should be, you know, top-notch and to be able

[48:05] to offer uh our residents, uh, you know, that is positive. That's all I have. All

[48:11] right. Very good. Deputy Mayor Cut, what do you have for us? I have nothing

[48:16] tonight. Thank you. Is it a full moon or something? Just

[48:22] keep going there. Are you sure? I'm going to give you Should I get a cap?

[48:28] Wait, can I We're going to take your time and give it back to me. Yeah,

[48:32] because Bob Herstat is in the room. Even though I don't have my statistics here,

[48:36] he does and he has the story to tell. Bob, I'd love to hear. Do you know them

[48:40] off the top of your head? I have nothing to say. Okay,

[48:45] I don't think that I

[48:51] I squad handles the about thousand about 100 calls this month. uh volunteer uh

[48:58] hours about 768 volunteer hours. We also had most of our calls were grass

[49:04] town is not the amount. I'll let you ask some questions in a minute when I'm

[49:08] done. Um we entertain troop 140 on Monday.

[49:14] They came to our building. We gave them a tour um for all our equipment and what

[49:18] it cost. For instance, a a Lupus Lupus CPR machine was

[49:25] $17,000 kind to buy a car for that kind of money and we have three of them that

[49:29] we need in our rigs. Uh it kind of make them stop to think that what it cost to

[49:35] run. Uh we let them go in our rigs. We show them how to refill oxygen tanks. Uh

[49:41] they may have gotten a uh American. I'm not sure.

[49:46] Probably part of their first name. Yeah, exactly. Um, and let's see. I know you

[49:52] want to ask my questions. So, if you're not um if you don't ask me

[49:56] um okay uh regarding uh not SWAT not having u an ambulance, we actually they

[50:03] still don't. But now Atlantic Health is running a rig out of N. Uh it's not

[50:10] called 41, which is the township designation number. It's called 1551. 51

[50:15] is the rig number. and they've been answering some calls which is terrific.

[50:19] Um they're staffed which is great. Um and uh we have been going west

[50:25] fortunately because we take a rig out of town with manpower to go there and this

[50:30] leaves our county but no one on the call is a second call with we just can't get

[50:35] it. Fortunately they've taken care of it and let's see what else. Uh, do they

[50:41] come out of both house or do they keep they come out over

[50:47] at Milton has an

[50:51] old need to be updated but everything? Yeah. Uh, and u let me

[50:58] think. I think I ran out of stuff. Sorry guys. Sorry. No, that's okay. That's

[51:03] okay. The other thing I wanted to mention is that um we um we were able to

[51:08] understand uh this past Saturday when we had our our finance uh um our budget uh

[51:13] discussion that um we're in the market for a new rig um and we are looking for

[51:18] something in the neighborhood of 300,000 in order to fund that. That's about a

[51:23] new cost because there's a 19 it's a 20 it's 20 years old 30 years old as a

[51:28] matter of fact. Uh, it kind of sits there. It has a small old week. We don't

[51:33] really want EMS calls on it. We put the standbys. However, a new rig

[51:40] cost $300,000 fully fully equipped. I mean, you can buy a rig for less, but

[51:46] then you have to have

[51:49] So, just so you know, we did get the commitment of our u auditor to be able

[51:54] to sit with us and understand uh the opportunities that we would be able to

[51:59] present. some of those fees or some cost sharing to some of the neighboring

[52:02] communities as well since we do serve them. Well, that's very nice. That's

[52:06] good to know. Speak to my accountant. Excuse me. The squad's account. You

[52:10] don't want my account. Well, the squad's account. Just the same. I didn't want it

[52:14] to pass and I apologize for having to call back, but I appreciate No, no. I

[52:19] appreciate your insight. Thank you everybody.

[52:23] Thank you everybody. I'll give you a second chance, Debbie. Do you have any?

[52:27] All right. I just thought something. Okay.

[52:34] All right. So, uh let's see. Um police over the past month, a few uh few things

[52:41] occurred. Owner of Simply Day Spa, uh Sun Chang was arrested and charged

[52:48] with one count of sexual assault, 12 counts of criminal sexual contact for

[52:52] illegal contact conduct during massages. They're asking for anyone who feels they

[52:57] may have been a victim uh to contact our police department. And at this time, we

[53:03] have an additional nine victims who have come forward with more charges pending.

[53:09] Uh Warren County paving Facebook post and Nixl announcements are forthcoming.

[53:14] They'll be paving 521 Stillwater Road from Bridge Street to High Street

[53:18] starting the week of April 21st. Paving will be two days during the elementary

[53:23] school spring break. One lane will be open during that time. Pipe work and

[53:26] site prep will begin next week and there will be lane closures. Veil Road and

[53:31] Mount Herman Road is scheduled to be paved the following week of April 28th.

[53:36] They will have one lane open and scheduled to take 4 days. And Officer

[53:40] Dylan completed defensive tactics instructor training. It's a new

[53:44] requirement for police licensing and it gives us the ability to stay compliant

[53:49] without sending officers to the police academy every year. As far as uh

[53:55] Blairestown uh fire department host company number one, they had fairly

[54:00] light month. They did uh they had 10 members participate in an ice rescue

[54:05] training exercise with Hope Fire Department. They had 18 calls for

[54:09] service in February, which is pretty it's on the light side. It's nice. Uh 11

[54:14] in Blairestown, three in Hardwick, and four mutual aid. And uh I don't think I

[54:21] have anything else to bring forth. You mentioned you were

[54:25] talking about the county. That's the county. Yeah. Do they notify the

[54:29] schools? They do notify. Yeah, they work. That's that's why they're working

[54:33] with the uh the spring break uh window there. Uh open up the floor again. Any

[54:40] Joel, do you have anything for us tonight? You just you just wanted us to

[54:44] I do have something I would like to say. Come on up.

[54:55] I have to identify myself. I'd like that. Okay. Joel Mc Green, Farm Valley

[54:59] Lane, Clartown, New Jersey. You don't have many patrons here

[55:05] tonight. Um or cut or members of the public. And I think one of the reasons

[55:11] is I would say half of you don't talk into the

[55:16] microphone, including our esteemed lawyer who I never hear at all. I wear

[55:22] hearing aids and I sit in the back and most of the time I can't hear you and

[55:29] um be nice if I could. And uh please try to do that and maybe I'll come back

[55:37] again. Can you hear me, Joel? I absolutely am I okay? You're fine. And

[55:42] here I thought you were coming up to thank the quick work of the road

[55:47] department for fixing the farm your sign at your private

[55:52] road within hours. I believe it was fixed. That was the second thing I was

[55:58] going to say. Oh, okay. Stole my thunder. But thank you. Appreciate it.

[56:04] Thanks for all the work you guys do. Appreciate it. Thank you. Do me a favor,

[56:08] gentlemen. If you come and and that happens, we we asked Lorine and I asked

[56:13] somebody else one time that was sitting in the back. Just raise your hand. Yeah,

[56:16] you can stop it. If you can't hear us, stop us at any time. It's it's it's

[56:20] fine. There's also you turn towards pinging. There's like a feedback kind of

[56:25] thing all night. Since you're asking, I don't hear anything. No, I I actually

[56:30] hear it with my with my miracle ears. I hear it. Bob, do you hear like like a

[56:35] feedback? Unless it's the supernatural talking to

[56:40] anybody. I think you have the youngest ears in

[56:43] the in the audience. So, I'll give you a pass. The only thing we don't hear is

[56:48] when you actually turn your head to speak to another country person, you

[56:52] knock us away from the microphone. We don't want that. That's

[56:55] probably You did not go up to the microphone and I heard nothing. You said

[57:00] maybe that's your intent. See? Yeah. I'll tell you. I'll tell you now.

[57:07] Oh, I thought there I thought you guys was going to fight us.

[57:12] I don't want to hurt. I would love a motion to adjourn. So

[57:18] move in favor and all oppose. Thank you everyone.

[57:29] [Music]

Blairstown Township Committee Meeting 3 26 2025

Transcript