[0:00] back and Marie

[0:03] » like to call this meeting to order. This is the Bunav Vista Township Regular

[0:06] Meeting April 28th, 2025. We'll start with a roll call.

[0:11] » Mr. Krenzer is absent. Mr. Renard absent. Mrs. Ta

[0:17] » here. >> Mr. Williams

[0:19] » here. >> Mayor Mayor Rajeri

[0:22] » here. On January 7th, 2025, notice of this

[0:27] meeting was mailed to the Daily Journal and the press and duly posted in the

[0:30] main lobby of the municipal complex. All requirements of the Open Public Meetings

[0:34] Act have been met in compliance with the Sunshine Law. I'd

[0:38] » like to ask everyone to stand to salute the flag.

[0:42] » Mrs. Tess, will you lead us? >> Sure. I pledge allegiance to the flag of

[0:46] the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation

[0:52] under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[1:01] » Approval of minutes. We have the workshop meeting April 14th, 2025.

[1:07] » Need a motion and a second to approve. >> Motion to approve.

[1:10] » Second. >> Roll call.

[1:13] Ta >> here.

[1:15] » Williams, >> yes.

[1:17] » Rei, >> yes.

[1:20] » Um, announcements, presentations, and discussion. There are none. Mayor's

[1:24] report. >> Good evening, everyone. Uh, a few quick

[1:26] items tonight as we venture into our busier than usual season. Um, I'm just

[1:32] going to go through these rapid fire. A few quick uh dates and and events that

[1:36] we want to highlight. Uh, the mentoring mother's breakfast will be this

[1:40] Saturday, May 5th at the MLK Center starting at 10 a.m. 10 a.m.

[1:44] » May 3rd. >> Oh, May 3rd.

[1:47] » Oh, what did I say? >> Saturday, May 3rd at the MLK Center

[1:51] starting at 10 a.m. Uh, please call the community center.

[1:56] » Please call the community center at 856697-2100

[2:01] extension28 to RSVP. And again, that is the mentoring mothers breakfast. Uh this

[2:06] Saturday, May 3rd at 10 a.m. Uh uh Saturday, May 17th, is our

[2:13] community yard sale at Michael Debbie Park. Registration is required. Spaces

[2:18] are still available, $10 per spot. Please register at our special events

[2:22] office. Memorial Day ceremony will be Monday,

[2:27] May 26th at 11:00 a.m. out front at town hall. Uh, as always, we encourage

[2:32] everybody to please join us. So, again, that's Memorial Day ceremony Monday, May

[2:37] 26th at 11:00 a.m. Uh, quick plug for summer concerts.

[2:42] Summer concerts will be underway June 18th. Uh, the first concert will be at

[2:46] the MLK Center featuring Lonnie Youngblood. Each concert thereafter will

[2:51] be Wednesday at Michael Debbie Park. All concerts are from 7 to 9:00 p.m. Please

[2:57] join us. It's one of our marquee events uh that we do every year in the warmer

[3:00] weather. So, really good food, fun, music. Please come out every Wednesday

[3:06] uh starting uh June 18th at Michael Debbie Park. And like I said, the

[3:11] inaugural will be at the community center from 7 to 9:00.

[3:16] Uh quick plug, this is a little far out, but just to get on everyone's radar,

[3:20] national night out will be August 5th from 5:00 to 9:00 at Michael Debbie

[3:24] Park. uh township is accepting donations for our annual fireworks event. Uh far

[3:29] and away I think the one of the better fireworks displays in our our general

[3:33] area. So again, quick plug, National Night Out, August 5th from 5 to 9 at

[3:38] Michael Debby Park. Uh and then lastly, um want to thank uh really just about

[3:43] everybody that was involved uh with a a a long-standing issue that we finally,

[3:48] knock on wood, uh put to bed. Uh, want to thank BBTEMS, Richland Fire, the

[3:54] Atlanta County Sheriff's Office. Uh, several residents, our public works

[3:58] department, and our township administrator. Uh, this was a a very

[4:03] long andbroiled code enforcement case uh about a property on Main Avenue in

[4:07] Richland. Um, lot that went into this over the span of

[4:12] the last 18 months, but we are are hopefully kind of putting the worst of

[4:17] this behind us at this point. Uh big shout out to public works. The condition

[4:21] of the property when we were finally able to access uh was pretty far gone.

[4:25] So I want to tip my hat to everybody that was involved and and hopefully

[4:29] bringing this to to some degree of finality.

[4:32] And that is all I have for my report tonight. Thank you everyone.

[4:37] » Thank you mayor. Ordinances for introduction first reading. There are

[4:41] none. Ordinances for public hearing second reading. We have ordinance

[4:45] 156-2025 authorizing acceptance of land donation

[4:50] for block 1403 lot 27. >> I need a motion and a second to open to

[4:56] the public on 156 2025

[5:01] » to the public. >> All in favor?

[5:04] » I >> I

[5:07] » uh motion to close. >> Motion to close.

[5:10] » Second. A motion and a second to adopt 156 2025.

[5:17] » Motion to adopt. >> Second.

[5:20] » Roll call. >> Ta.

[5:22] » Yes. >> Williams.

[5:24] » Yes. >> Raji?

[5:25] » Yes. >> Public comment on current agenda items

[5:28] only. In order for the committee to conduct the business of the township in

[5:32] the most productive manner possible, meeting attendees will be given two

[5:35] minutes, all-inclusive, to comment on any agenda items without comment or

[5:39] question from the committee, but only on items specified on the agenda listed for

[5:44] the current meeting. Please step up to the microphone at the appropriate time

[5:47] and state your name and address for the record. Resolution 77-25 is authorizing

[5:53] payment of bills in the amount of $447,34.71.

[5:59] Consent agenda includes item of business which are not controversial and do not

[6:03] require individual discussion. A motion approving the consent agenda is moved,

[6:08] seconded, and voted upon as one item by the township committee. If any

[6:12] discussion if any discussion is requested on a consent agenda item, it

[6:16] is removed from the consent agenda to the regular agenda.

[6:20] 78-25 is authorizing refund of applicable fees for Independence Day

[6:24] celebration. 79-25 is authorizing the refund of taxover payment to Nadia

[6:31] Chevchenko. 80-25 is authorizing change order number

[6:36] one for the reconstruction of Landis Avenue phase 1. 81-25 is accepting the

[6:42] annual audit report for calendar year 2024.

[6:45] 82-25 is authorizing the mayor to execute anou with the ACIA for CDBG

[6:51] funds for the MLK center parking lot improvements.

[6:55] » You thought I was gonna mess that one up.

[6:57] » Sounded like a wrap. >> I've had many years of practice on that

[7:00] one. >> Sounded like a wrap song.

[7:03] 83-25 is accept proposal from Schaefer Asher

[7:06] Shyig for postroad reconstruction phase 1 and 84-25 is authorizing the mayor to

[7:13] execute an amended agreement with BBT EMS.

[7:16] » We need a motion and a second to open to the public for agenda items only.

[7:20] » Motion to open to the public. >> Second.

[7:24] » All in favor? >> I.

[7:26] » Motion to close. >> Motion to close.

[7:28] » Second. >> All in favor?

[7:30] » I. Uh motion and a second to pay the bills.

[7:33] » Motion to pay the bills. >> Second.

[7:36] » Roll call. >> Ta.

[7:38] » Yes. >> Williams.

[7:40] » Yes. >> Rigeri.

[7:41] » Yes. Uh motion and a second to adopt consent agenda resolution 78 through 84.

[7:47] » Motion to adopt. >> Second.

[7:50] » Roll call. >> Ta.

[7:52] » Yes. >> Williams.

[7:53] » Yes. >> Rajeri.

[7:54] » Yes. >> Item 12, our administrator's report. Do

[7:59] you have anything? >> Um,

[8:03] thank you for everybody reviewing the audit and accepting the audit. Um,

[8:07] again, we have a very clean audit, uh, with no findings ever in this audit as

[8:12] well. So, um, hats off completely to township staff, um, all staff, tax

[8:17] office, finance office, uh, clerk's office. Um, they definitely put a lot

[8:22] behind everything that the township is required to have audited. Um so I

[8:26] appreciate everybody's due diligence and making sure that we continue to stay

[8:30] within compliance. So um that is the audit that we present um for you guys

[8:35] this year. So I am very happy about that. Um we are moving on to other

[8:40] certain requirements. We also did our um right to know was completed. Uh we have

[8:46] some storm water management reports uh annually. I will be working on those as

[8:50] well. uh we just submitted for our tonnage and then at the the last meeting

[8:55] we got a tonnage grant for over 9,000. So we're continued to move in the

[9:00] forward direction to be able to continue to get certain grants that are

[9:04] happening. Um I just received some quotes for the hockey court at Michael

[9:08] Debbie Park. Um I'm working on those to work out them to be with under the bid

[9:15] threshold. Um otherwise we may have to go out to bid for that. It's it's right

[9:19] there. So, I got to see um what some other quotes could possibly come in at.

[9:23] We should be able to start working on the Michael Debbie Park uh hockey court.

[9:28] So, >> what is the the scope involved with

[9:30] that? >> So, that is um what we are planning on

[9:34] doing is redoing all of the boards um around the hockey court, redoing the

[9:39] kickboards, and then prior to redoing those is redoing the surface. But

[9:43] instead of actually coming in and resurfacing, which actually costs more,

[9:48] um we're going to switch over to now what is permitted to be a new hockey

[9:52] surface, which everybody is now doing. Hamilton Township has it. A Carver

[9:56] Township has it. And they're um squares. So if a square is broken, you have extra

[10:01] squares. You pop it out, you put another one in.

[10:03] » They call it a sport court, right? >> Yes.

[10:05] » Sport court. >> And we can design it. We could put our

[10:07] logo on it. um it's not supposed to um fade by the sun, things of that nature.

[10:14] So, uh the thought process for that is to hopefully which we have the grant to

[10:18] be able to cover the cost um to have that new surface and then redo the

[10:22] board. So, hopefully by fall we should have that project complete. Um it'll all

[10:28] be done by public works staff other than the cost of the materials which would

[10:32] hopefully be covered by staff or covered by the grant. So, um the other grant

[10:37] that we applied for on the recreation that was due for this year, we did not

[10:41] get. Um a lot of those grant awards went up north. There were only three

[10:47] Atlantic County towns that got the grant. They were towns that didn't get

[10:50] the grant last year. So, we didn't get that grant. That was hopeful to be able

[10:54] to resurface the tennis courts and be able to do pickle ball. Um so, I'll have

[10:58] to look at some other crafty ideas to be able to work on that. So, so that's kind

[11:05] of where we're at. >> Okay.

[11:07] » Working hard, moving on to the next phase of events.

[11:11] » That's a good uh a good update. I normally am uh cornered by pickle ball

[11:16] players uh once a week on on updates. So, at least it's good to have something

[11:20] to communicate back >> to really do the courts uh justice. They

[11:25] really need to be stripped down. um they need to be cleaned and then that clean

[11:29] has to dry and then they have to be painted and then they have to be coated.

[11:33] Uh but before all that a lot of them re uh have to have new um nets to be

[11:39] installed which means concrete post. So there's

[11:44] » got it. >> That would be a pretty good feat

[11:46] especially um Michael Debbie there's one of them that definitely has to be fully

[11:50] replaced. Uh the nets we were able to get through um the school district

[11:55] because they get them all the time for theirs. So they basically sold it to us

[11:59] at the cost that they got. So I'm not worried about getting the nets more than

[12:02] I am about getting a contractor in that specializes specifically for tennis

[12:06] courts. So and not at such a high cost. >> That's a specialty.

[12:11] » Yep. So

[12:14] » got you. >> Yeah, it's a little bit above our grade.

[12:17] » Got you. Okay. So, that's my update. >> Thank you, Lisa.

[12:23] Item 13, committee reports. Mr. Williams.

[12:27] » Yes. Um, I just wanted to mentioned that the uh on April 14th, we uh approved the

[12:32] municipal budget and uh this year the township was under state review and the

[12:38] state has cleared us to pass the budget. The tax increase was 3.6 6 which is $36

[12:44] per 100,000 assessed value property value and the township is $118,000 below

[12:50] the spending cap and 27,000 below the tax levy cap. The increase is due to all

[12:56] code funds have being used and this is a very conservative budget. Um also I

[13:03] attended the um

[13:08] uh Martin Luther King Advisory Board and um we uh we decided to go to a uh a

[13:16] quarterly schedule for having the meetings on January, April, June and

[13:21] September. So that that was uh approved by the entire group and also they me um

[13:30] Quinton mentioned the uh early voting which is going to be on June 3rd to June

[13:36] 8th and then the primary will be on June 10th.

[13:41] Also, um, as you had mentioned, we're going to have the mentoring Mother's Day

[13:46] breakfast on Saturday, May 3rd from 10 from 10:00 a.m. And, uh,

[13:55] and fresh flowers and a specialty omelet station will be provided.

[14:01] Also, uh I wanted to mention the uh spring uh leaf con leaf collection was

[14:10] uh completed and uh that was on the week of April 14th and that was completed in

[14:17] Collins Lake, D. Rosa drives, Cedar Gardens, and Country Club. Um

[14:23] we uh I wanted to give a shout out to the public works. did a great job in

[14:28] picking up all the leaves, particularly in Collins Lakes.

[14:34] And um I attended the uh League of Municipalities uh meeting on uh Friday,

[14:41] last Friday, and they had a speaker at this uh for um

[14:48] for a com accommodation of a a digital ADA disability advisory board. And the

[14:56] uh the uh presenter was very uh thorough in going over to the uh all the

[15:03] formatting and the uh five disabilities that uh that people uh would go through.

[15:10] And they were particularly uh talking about um um a hospital system where the

[15:18] blind use the braille on the phone and multiple formats on in a kio system.

[15:24] It was uh very informative and was uh enjoyed by the all who attended.

[15:31] » Was Jesse Kurts there? >> Huh?

[15:33] » Was Jesse Curts there? >> I know Jesse Kurts from Atlantic City is

[15:37] very involved in the digital ADA stuff. I didn't know if he was a part of that.

[15:41] » Jesse Curts. Um >> I don't know if he was there. He did

[15:43] reach out. I talked to him. >> Yeah. I don't think I don't think he was

[15:45] there. >> Got it. Okay.

[15:49] » And that's all I have. >> Thank you.

[15:51] » Thank you, John. Mrs. Ta. >> Well, I would just be reiterating

[15:56] everything the two of you have said about uh the upcoming events. Um so, no

[16:03] reason to to redo that to revisit all of them again.

[16:08] » You have all your stuff ready for the yard sale.

[16:14] » I will help out in the kitchen, but I do not participate in the yard sale.

[16:18] » My uh my son wants to have his own table for the first time this year, so he's

[16:22] » Oh, boy. He's been like unbolting stuff off the wall. Things that were not quite

[16:27] ready to sell.

[16:31] » Oh my goodness. >> All righty. Uh item 14, public comment.

[16:38] » Um so just to piggyback on Mr. Williams regarding the digital age. So there is a

[16:42] state requirement that um all municipalities by 2026 have to upgrade

[16:47] their websites um to this new digital capacity which allows for various ADA,

[16:53] autism, blind um you know deafness. So we actually um over probably the next

[17:01] month and a half we'll be upgrading our website to be in compliance with that.

[17:05] Um, it's actually a really neat app um that gets installed on the back end of

[17:10] the website that is utilized by everybody who would have any type of

[17:14] ADA, even autism. It changes the colors on the website. It stops anything from

[17:18] blinking on the website. So, if there's any triggers, things of that nature. So,

[17:22] uh we are working to that to be in full compliance. That is one of the checklist

[17:26] items. But, uh um our website definitely will be in compliance way before the due

[17:32] date. But in case you see any changes on the website or wonder why things look

[17:35] different, >> um, or you see a little widget on there

[17:38] that pops up and says, "Do you need any of these services?" Um, you know, that's

[17:43] that would be the purpose for it. So, I'm actually excited about that. That'll

[17:47] be a neat upgrade to the website to do that. So,

[17:51] » Lynn Kerson also mentioned that they're going to be uh checking out the uh post

[17:56] offices and see which ones are truly handicap accessible. Got it. So, she

[18:03] asked us to try to stop by there and see if if you could pull the door open with

[18:08] a wheelchair. >> Okay.

[18:10] » And then they're going to present all them that exist in Atlantic County.

[18:17] » Cool. Public comment. Um, I will say that, um,

[18:24] please step up to the microphone at the appropriate time and state your name and

[18:28] address for the record. Uh motion and a second to open to the

[18:32] public. >> Motion to open to the public.

[18:34] » Second. >> All in favor?

[18:37] » I. >> Motion to close.

[18:38] » Motion to close. >> Second.

[18:40] » All in favor? >> I.

[18:42] » Anything for executive tonight? >> Uh we do have executive.

[18:47] » It will be quick, but let me read that into the record. So we have resolution

[18:52] 85-2025 whereas there are three items scheduled

[18:56] for discussion. those items to include any pending or anticipated litigation or

[19:01] contract negotiations, which includes attorney legal updates and a request

[19:05] from the Richland Fire Richland Volunteer Fire Company, and any matter

[19:09] involving the employment, appointment, termination of employment, or terms and

[19:13] conditions of employment to include the reorganization of the finance office and

[19:17] appointment of a chief financial officer. I estimated roughly 15 minutes

[19:22] for executive session with no action to be taken after.

[19:26] Uh motion and a second to enter executive session.

[19:29] » Motion to enter executive session. >> Second.

[19:32] » Roll call. >> Tesa,

[19:34] » yes. >> Williams,

[19:35] » yes. >> Reeri,

[19:36] » yes. >> And that's it.

Township Committee April 28, 2025

Transcript