[1:06] You're set to go.
>> All right. Good evening everyone and
[1:09] welcome to the Maple Shade Township
Council regular session agenda meeting.
[1:12] Please stand for the pledge of
>> allegiance
[1:18] to the flag of America and to the
republic for which it stands. One nation
[1:24] under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
[1:31] » Public notice of this meeting pursuant
to the open public meeting act has been
[1:35] given by the township council in the
following manner. Notifying township
[1:38] clerk December 23rd, 2025. posting
notice on the municipal website and
[1:42] posting notice on the official municipal
bulletin board on December 23rd, 2025.
[1:46] Any from anyone from the public wishing
to speak today will be permitted to
[1:48] address comments to council during
public participation portions only.
[1:52] Those wishing to speak should stand up,
state their name and address prior to
[1:55] making any comment.
The draft agenda has been posted on the
[1:59] township web page and bulletin board in
the municipal building. Please place all
[2:04] phones on mute. Roll call, please.
Terry.
[2:06] » Mr. Kaufman,
>> here.
[2:07] » Miss Nunes,
>> here.
[2:08] » Mr. Simon,
>> here. Mr. Zadnik
[2:10] » here.
>> Mayor Chico
[2:12] » here. This is the open board of health
meeting. Susan,
[2:15] » thank you. So, uh, for this month, we
just had the report of, uh, one mold
[2:19] case and one standing water case. Uh,
everything has been closed with the
[2:23] board of health. Um, and then just some
friendly reminders for the month of
[2:26] July. We always have the extreme heat
and climate resilience that we that we
[2:30] put out into our newsletter and whatnot.
We remind residents to please check in
[2:34] on elderly neighbors and those who are
most vulnerable to heat and humidity.
[2:37] Um, also remind of standing water that
that's a primary breeding habitat for
[2:41] mosquitoes. So, we ask residents to
please make sure they eliminate any
[2:44] stagnant waters from their bird baths or
flower pots or buckets, gutters. Um,
[2:48] that will help reduce the mosquito
populations. And summer storms, I don't
[2:53] think any of us are any strangers to
that. Um, you know, we're getting a lot
[2:55] of rain right now, too, but the summer
storms specifically give us a little
[2:58] warning. They bring a lot of heavy rain,
sometimes strong winds. So, we just
[3:02] remind residents just to prepare their
properties for that. make sure that you
[3:05] know they're if they have basketball
nets out there, if they have their
[3:08] umbrellas, put the umbrellas down.
Anything that they can do to keep
[3:10] themselves and their neighbors safe. And
that's the end of my board of health
[3:13] report. Thank you. This is the public
portion. Does anybody from the public
[3:16] like to come up about the board of
health meeting? Seeing none, can I have
[3:20] a motion to close?
>> So made.
[3:21] » I'll second.
>> Comments? All in favor?
[3:24] » I. I have a motion to adjurnn.
>> So made second.
[3:28] » All in favor?
>> I.
[3:29] » Okay. Okay, moving over to resolution
2026-R116
[3:32] appointing Brian Weiss to chief of
police for the Maple Shade Police
[3:36] Department. Motion to approve.
>> Some made.
[3:39] » Second.
>> Comments.
[3:41] » Roll call, please. Terry.
>> Mr. Cauman.
[3:43] » Yes.
>> Miss Nunes.
[3:44] » Yes.
>> Mr. Simons.
[3:46] » Yes.
>> Mr. Sadnick.
[3:47] » Yes.
>> Mayor Telerico.
[3:48] » Yes.
>> Okay. Now we will do the oath of office.
[3:53] Mr.
>> The honorable councilman is going to do
[3:56] that.
[4:06] » [snorts]
[4:19] » Repeat after me. I Brian do solely swear
or affirm
[4:23] » I Brian do solemnly swear or affirm
>> that I will support the Constitution of
[4:28] the United States [snorts] and the
Constitution of the State of New Jersey
[4:31] » that I will support the Constitution of
the United States and the State of New
[4:34] Jersey.
>> And I will bear true faith and
[4:38] allegiance to the same.
>> And I will bear truth faith and
[4:41] allegiance to the same
>> and to the governments established in
[4:44] the United States and in this state.
>> To the government established in the
[4:47] United States and the state
>> under the authority of the people. Help
[4:50] me go
>> under the authority of the people. Sel
[4:53] » I do further solemnly swear or affirm
>> I do further solemnly swear or affirm
[4:59] » that I will impartially and justly
perform all the duties of the office of
[5:02] police of chief
>> that I will impartially perform all
[5:07] duties of the office of chief chief of
police
[5:09] » according to the best of my ability. So
help me God.
[5:12] » according to the best of my ability. So
help me God.
[5:14] » Congratulations.
[5:17] [applause] CONGRATULATIONS.
[5:25] Thank you.
>> Speech. Speech.
[5:27] » Would you like to give a speech?
[laughter]
[5:29] » No pressure.
>> Uh, I didn't prepare anything.
[5:31] » Didn't want to not offer.
>> Uh, no. I'll just say that, you know, 30
[5:34] years ago in 1996 when I got hired by
the police department, I wasn't even
[5:38] sure I could be a cop, let alone be
charged with leading the agency. So, I I
[5:42] want to thank the township manager and
the elected officials for putting their
[5:45] faith in me. and you know, we definitely
will not let you down. Um, to the
[5:50] citizens of Maple Shade, I just want to
tell you that we appreciate all the
[5:53] support that you guys give us. Um, we
come in every day putting our best foot
[5:58] forward, wanting to do the best we
possibly can for you and the community
[6:03] and obviously to my family who's here. I
couldn't have done it without you guys.
[6:07] I'd also like to thank Chief Tom Ryold
and the Key Police Department for coming
[6:10] out tonight. our departments work very
closely together and I'm sure there'll
[6:14] be assembly board for me in time. So,
thanks Tom.
[6:19] [applause]
[6:24] » All right, going over to resolution
number 2026-R117
[6:29] is a resolution to meet in executive
session for the following matters
[6:32] related by state and federal law or
rules of court to be confidential and
[6:35] matters related to contract negotiation.
Can I have a motion to close? So made
[6:41] » second
>> comments.
[6:43] All in favor? I
>> hopefully we will be
[33:32] I
>> I
[33:33] » Okay.
>> Resolution 2026-R18
[33:38] is a resolution to amend the capital
budget. Can I have a motion to approve?
[33:42] » So made a second.
>> Comments.
[33:45] » Roll call, please. Oh, sorry.
the uh
[33:50] the capital budget, what it says in
there, it's kind of open-ended to me uh
[33:56] for approving capital uh budgets. We
haven't finalized our budget yet. Is
[34:02] there a reason why we want to leave that
open?
[34:06] » Well, the resolution to amend the
capital budget is what we're going to be
[34:09] doing with the amendments from the
original what we discussed with Jess at
[34:12] the last meeting for the money that was
a little older that we've had sitting
[34:16] there. We're going to move some things
around. So, we had more in our municipal
[34:18] budget. Um, so we had more to go to DPW
for the um for the dump truck. Those
[34:24] things. That's what that resolution is
for. We have to amend the former capital
[34:28] budget to be able to make those changes.
>> Well, that's not what it said in the
[34:33] description. It was saying that it
leaves it open for future projects.
[34:37] resolution to amend the capital budget
is that's that resolution is so that
[34:42] it's for our former it's for our older
money is what it is for. Then we go into
[34:48] the next ordinances we're introducing
the next two ordinances or the three
[34:51] ordinances that will be for our new
capital and for our um the moving of the
[34:56] capital money that we're doing. [snorts]
>> All right. Well, were all those things
[35:01] discussed in former meetings?
>> At the last meeting is where we
[35:04] discussed it with Jess here. Mhm.
>> Okay.
[35:06] » Okay. Roll call, please. Terry.
>> Miss Nunes.
[35:09] » Yes.
>> Mr. Simons.
[35:11] » No.
>> Mr. Zerodnik.
[35:12] » Yes.
>> Mayor Telerico.
[35:13] » Yes. This is the ordinance and
introduction and first reading.
[35:16] Ordinance number 2026-08 is the bond
ordinance providing for various 2026
[35:21] general capital improvements by and in
the township of Maple Shade in the
[35:24] county of Burlington State of New
Jersey. Appropriating 2,572,779.
[35:29] Therefore, including three grants in the
aggregate amount of 1,27,779
[35:33] and authorizing the issuance of
1,ion471135
[35:36] bonds or notes to finance part of the
cost thereof. Have a motion for
[35:40] approval, please.
>> I'll make the motion.
[35:43] » Second comments.
>> Roll call, please. Terry.
[35:46] » Miss Nunes.
>> Yes.
[35:47] » Mr. Simon.
>> No.
[35:49] » Mr. Tnik.
>> Yes.
[35:51] » Mayor Telico.
>> Yes. Publication date is July 13, 2026.
[35:54] And the public hearing is August 6,
2026. Ordinance number 2026-09 is a bond
[36:00] ordinance providing the various 2026
utility capital improvements by the in
[36:04] the township of Maple Shade in the
county of Burlington State of New Jersey
[36:08] appropriating 2,92,000. Therefore,
including a grant in the amount of
[36:11] 1,92,000 and authorizing the issuance of
952,276
[36:16] bonds or notes to finance part of the
cost thereof. Motion for approval,
[36:19] please.
>> So made.
[36:21] » I'll second.
>> Comments.
[36:23] » Roll call, please. Terry.
>> Miss Nunes.
[36:25] » Yes.
>> Mr. Simon,
[36:26] » no.
>> Mr. Znik,
[36:28] » yes.
>> Mayor Tel Rico,
[36:29] » yes. Publication date, July 13, 2026.
Public hearing August 6, 2026. Ordinance
[36:34] 2026-10 is a vod ordinance providing for
various water system equipment buying in
[36:39] the township of Maple Shade in the
County of Burlington State of New Jersey
[36:42] appropriating 1,400,000 therefore and
authorizing the issuance of 1,400,000
[36:46] bonds and notes to finance part of the
cost thereof. Motion for approval,
[36:50] please.
>> Make the motion.
[36:52] » Second.
>> Comments. Roll call, please. Miss Nunes.
[36:55] » Yes.
>> Mr. Simon,
[36:57] » no.
>> Mr. Zadnik,
[36:58] » yes.
>> Mayor Telico,
[36:59] » yes. Publication date, July 13, 2026,
public hearing August 6, 2026. Ordinance
[37:03] number 2026-11 is an ordinance amending
chapter 205 of the municipal code of the
[37:07] township of New I'm sorry, Township of
Maple Shade, County of Burlington, State
[37:10] of New Jersey, adding the establishment
of outdoor lighting standards to chapter
[37:15] 205, article 24. Can I have a motion for
approval?
[37:18] » So made.
>> I'll second.
[37:20] » Comments?
>> Roll call.
[37:22] » Miss Nunes.
>> Yes.
[37:23] » Mr. Mr. Simons,
>> yes.
[37:24] » Mr. Zerik,
>> yes.
[37:26] » Mayor Tico,
>> yes. Publication date, July 13, 2026.
[37:29] Public hearing, August 6, 2026. This is
now the public portion for the consent
[37:33] agenda only. Anybody from the public
have any questions on the consent
[37:37] agenda?
>> Seeing none, can I have a motion to
[37:40] close?
>> So made.
[37:42] » A second.
>> All in favor?
[37:44] » I.
>> Okay. Resolution number 2026-R119
[37:47] through resolution 2026-R132.
Can I have a motion to approve, please?
[37:52] So made
>> I'll second
[37:54] » comments.
>> Uh could somebody explain to me why
[37:59] after we set all the dates for the
meetings that were changing the council
[38:03] meeting?
>> That's when we talked about at the last
[38:06] meeting that there was a there's a
conflict. I'm not here the one week. The
[38:10] mayor is also away on vacation the next.
So we had agreed last meeting that we
[38:14] would move it to August 6th.
>> Okay. Well, I just wanted on record, we
[38:18] knew about all these meetings in the
very beginning of the year, and I don't
[38:22] think it's fair to the residents that we
just arbitrarily change them. I think we
[38:27] should work our vacations around the
schedule of the township, not the other
[38:32] way around.
>> Okay. Any other comments?
[38:35] Roll call, please. Terry. Miss Nunes.
>> Yes. Mr. Simons.
[38:38] » No. Mr. Z. Uh,
>> excuse me. No for 122. Yes. for the
[38:44] rest.
>> Yes,
[38:46] » Mayor Delerica.
>> Yes. Approval of the expenditure list,
[38:50] please. Susan,
>> current fund bill is 3,459,796.62.
[38:57] Our utility fund is $391,928.54.
[39:02] Our capital fund bill list is actually
there's been a change. We had to add uh
[39:07] JH Williams for our police department.
So that is $39,74918.
[39:14] Utility capital is $240,55748.
[39:19] Our trust fund is $314
$314,12725
[39:25] and our grant fund billist is $11,92329.
I have reviewed the above bills as
[39:30] submitted and recommend payment when
funds are available.
[39:33] » Thank you. Can I have a motion to
approve, please?
[39:35] » I'll make that motion.
>> Second.
[39:37] » Comments.
>> Roll call, please.
[39:40] Miss Nunes.
>> Yes.
[39:41] » Mr. Simon.
>> Yes.
[39:42] » Mr. Zerik.
>> Yes.
[39:44] » Mayor Tico.
>> Yes. Approval of the June 2026 minutes.
[39:47] Motion to approve.
>> So made.
[39:49] » I'll second.
>> Comments. Roll call, please. Terry.
[39:54] » Miss Nunes.
>> Yes.
[39:54] » Mr. Simon.
>> Yes.
[39:56] » Mr. Radnik.
>> Yes.
[39:57] » Mayor Tri.
>> Yes. This is the public portion. If
[39:59] anybody from the public would like to
come up address council, please do so.
[40:02] State your name and address for the
record.
[40:12] uh 39 Lancancy Road. Um I'd just like to
make a comment about
[40:19] uh resolution
R1 123 where they're going to start a
[40:25] preliminary investigation
uh township planner and the land use
[40:31] board. Uh, I'd like to bring it to your
attention and I'm sure may you may or
[40:37] may not know about it, but I just ran
into some of uh my clients who bought a
[40:44] condo over in the Watergate complex.
And I just like to make you aware if
[40:50] you're not aware that I think it was
approximately maybe 8 to 10 years ago
[40:57] they had an issue over there with a
couple buildings that were sinking
[41:03] and they had to actually rebuild those
buildings. They spent a lot of money and
[41:10] of course the residents had to pay more
in their monthly dues
[41:16] uh you know to compensate for those
buildings. And you might say well why
[41:21] are you telling us this if it was 8 to
10 years ago? Well in the course of
[41:26] talking to them once again it has now
happened again.
[41:31] All right. So any studies that you're
going to be doing, I would strongly
[41:36] advise the engineers to look into that
particular situation because you don't
[41:43] want to disturb the grounds
in the vicinity of Watergate unless the
[41:49] appropriate studies have been done. And
that's all.
[41:53] » Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[41:54] » Anybody else from the public?
[42:05] I'm Dwan Burn. My pronouns are she, her,
and I live at 66 South Popular Avenue.
[42:11] Um, I appreciated the conversation last
meeting about the leaves and leave
[42:16] collection. And I was hoping to keep
that conversation going.
[42:20] I
consider it common sense that if there's
[42:24] something on my property that I want
removed, whether it's leaves or
[42:28] something else, I don't expect the
township to take it away and the rest of
[42:32] the township to help me pay for that
service. That's my responsibility. It's
[42:37] my choice. It's my property. And I think
that the $18,000 that we used to send
[42:44] around the leaf truck, if that can go
back into the budget, it could mean
[42:49] maybe a little bit more money in in
people's famil family's pockets for food
[42:54] that is at an all-time price high right
now. Thank you so much.
[42:58] » Thank you.
>> Thanks. Anybody else from the public?
[43:10] Change microphones make it a little
easier.
[43:13] Nick Denia 605 North Kohl's Avenue. Um
I'm here tonight as president of IFC. I
[43:19] have not heard anything from council
since our last uh interaction. Um I'm
[43:24] going to present to council. I'll give
copy to Susan, copy to Heather. Is our
[43:28] expenditure list for the last two years.
>> Okay.
[43:38] trying to unite it up.
[43:42] » Thank you.
[43:45] » Anybody else in the public?
>> Okay. Seeing none, can I have a motion
[43:49] to close?
>> So may
[43:54] I'm sorry. Second.
>> So all in favor?
[43:56] » I.
>> All right. Moving over to staff and
[43:58] professional comments. Councilman
Simonstick, you want to start?
[44:03] Well, and then the uh fireworks kept
moved to Sunday because of the weather.
[44:07] So, I just hope uh that everyone that
could make it had a good time down
[44:12] there. The weather wasn't too
cooperative this time around. So,
[44:17] hopefully everybody made the best out of
it.
[44:20] » Okay, Councilman.
>> No, I have no comments. Mayor,
[44:26] » all you left?
>> Yeah, I'm only one left.
[44:30] I'm so sorry to hear about Jeffrey Nace.
Uh longtime resident and a supporter of
[44:37] of everyone in every way. Sorry to hear
that he passed and I want to send
[44:43] condolences out to his family. It's it's
quite a shock. Thank you.
[44:49] » Thank you. Susan Terry, you don't have
anything?
[44:51] » No.
>> Tony, you don't have anything right now.
[44:54] » Okay. Um, the only thing I have is
coffee with the vets starts this Monday,
[44:58] July 13th, uh, from 9:00 to 11:00 up
here. So, if you know anybody who's a
[45:02] vet or if you just want to come out and
talk to anybody, just you're invited.
[45:04] Everybody's invited.
Moving over to old business operations.
[45:09] Thank you. So, since our last council
uh, meeting, township staff has
[45:12] continued to focus on delivering
essential municipal services while still
[45:15] advancing a number advancing a number of
significant uh, operational initiatives
[45:19] as well as capital improvement projects.
Construction activity has continued
[45:22] throughout the township. Several roadway
and infrastructure improvement projects
[45:26] continue to progress. We're remaining
actively engaged in addressing concerns
[45:30] related to the Buttonwood drainage
improvement project. Uh township
[45:34] administration, Department of Public
Works, our consulting engineer and legal
[45:37] council were monitoring that project
closely while working to ensure the
[45:40] contractor compliance. Recreation
department has successfully hosted our
[45:44] annual Independence Day fireworks as
Councilman Simon Sack just reported. Uh
[45:48] we continue preparations for the
remainder of our summer event season
[45:51] which includes the additional concerts
in the park. I do want to thank our rec
[45:56] department, our police department,
Department of Public Works, our fire
[45:59] department, our EMS personnel,
volunteers, and all of the community
[46:02] organizations that helped make this
year's Independence Day event
[46:06] successful. Um I know it was shortened.
We didn't have the parade. It was
[46:09] disappointing, but it really was in the
best interest and for the safety of our
[46:13] residents. So, um, we were happy that we
were at least able to get the fireworks
[46:17] off when we did. Public works has
continued its seasonal maintenance
[46:21] efforts throughout June. That's included
some roadway repairs, storm sewer
[46:25] maintenance, park and playground upkeep.
They've done some landscaping, recycling
[46:28] operations, and also support for
different township events. Our crews
[46:32] have also continued maintenance of a lot
of our township facilities, our
[46:35] vehicles, and our public infrastructure
while still responding to routine
[46:38] requests. I will tell you that last
Friday, July 3rd, while the municipal
[46:42] building was closed. Uh we spent about 7
hours up here, the back corner of the uh
[46:48] courtroom here was subject to an HBAC
serious HBAC leak. We had a massive uh
[46:54] water leak. Thank god Terry was here
working after I left in the morning. She
[46:58] called me. I came running back and we
had a waterfall in here. Uh the water
[47:02] wound up leaking down into the library,
but guys came out. We were fortunate
[47:06] with our with the relationships that we
have with our HVAC company. They
[47:11] literally came out. They dropped
everything, came to help us. But yeah,
[47:14] it was long. It was a lot of cleanup.
Spent a lot of hours here last weekend.
[47:17] But, uh, kudos to them because they came
the minute I called crying. So, they
[47:22] were here. Uh, Maple Shade EMS responded
to 304 calls during the month of June,
[47:27] bringing the year-to- date total to
1,670 emergency calls. Still, our most
[47:31] common incidents continue to include
medical emergencies, falls, respiratory
[47:35] emergencies, cardiac related calls,
motor vehicle accidents, and of course,
[47:39] psychiatric emergencies. Our EMS
personnel continues to provide emergency
[47:43] medical services to our residents and
visitors 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
[47:48] Community development uh department
remained extremely active throughout
[47:51] June. They completed 153 residential COS
or CCO inspections, including 127
[47:57] apartment inspections, 19 single family
home inspections, and seven condominium
[48:01] inspections. So, they're continuing to
address property maintenance concerns,
[48:05] zoning enforcement, construction
inspections, and then, of course,
[48:07] redevelopment activities throughout the
township. Our tax collector's office, we
[48:12] actually welcomed uh our new tax
collector on board on June 29th, Patrick
[48:16] Hagerty. So, we're we're happy to have
him to the team. his experience and
[48:20] leadership and dedication will
definitely bring uh some new life to our
[48:24] tax department. We're going to change
things, get some more things automated,
[48:27] really make it uh definitely uh like I
said, more automated and and more
[48:32] resident friendly. But our tax
collectors continued strong collections.
[48:37] We have now year-to- date exceed 25.3
million while our water and sewer
[48:42] collections total more than 4.39
million. So, we're in a a good place
[48:46] there and definitely heading in the
right direction. So overall, our
[48:49] township departments are continuing to
provide a lot of uh responsive public
[48:52] services, maintain our infrastructure
and supporting community events. So
[48:56] we're looking forward to the second half
of the year. It's crazy to even say that
[48:59] that we're like in July, second half of
the year. So
[49:02] » all right, thank you. Moving over to the
police report.
[49:04] » Thank you, mayor.
>> Uh a couple of not notable incidents to
[49:08] share with you. Uh back in October, I
believe uh Chief Fletcher reported on
[49:12] this at the time. Uh we had an
altercation between two patrons at Jay's
[49:16] Elbow Room located on Route 73 here in
Maple Shade. The altercation quickly
[49:20] escalated resulting in two subjects
exchanging gunfire in the parking lot of
[49:24] the business. Uh this was done in the
presence of several bystanders with one
[49:28] subject actually shooting nine rounds in
the direction of traffic that was
[49:31] traveling on Route 73.
A thorough investigation was conducted
[49:35] and both subjects were quickly
identified and charged. Uh today I'm
[49:39] happy to report that one of the accused
has recently plead guilty to a
[49:42] secondderee weapons offense and will
likely be sentenced to 5 years in state
[49:45] prison at the sentencing hearing
scheduled for August 28th. This
[49:49] investigation was a great team effort
between our department and the
[49:51] prosecutor's office and I'd like to
commend all the officers for their
[49:54] diligence and professionalism.
On June 17th of this year, our agency
[50:01] was contacted by the Hopewell Township
Police Department, who requested
[50:04] assistance in locating and arresting a
subject that had been involved in a
[50:07] domestic assault and an unlawful taking
of a vehicle in their jurisdiction. It
[50:11] was also reported that the subject had
eluded several other law enforcement
[50:14] agencies who observed him driving that
vehicle and attempted to apprehend him.
[50:19] One of our officers located the vehicle
occupied by the subject on the parking
[50:22] lot of the Auto Zone on Collins Road. As
our officers approached with the
[50:26] assistance of the Mount Laura Police
Department, they formulated a plan to
[50:29] conduct a felony arrest while the
vehicle was stationary, thus hopefully
[50:32] preventing any further instances of
eluding [clears throat] by the suspect.
[50:36] However, when they made contact with
him, he chose not to comply with the
[50:39] officer's orders and instead used his
vehicle as a weapon, driving in the
[50:42] direction of the officers and their
vehicles. The suspect subsequently
[50:46] struck a Maple Shaped police vehicle and
two Mount Laura police vehicles while
[50:50] making his escape. During the assault, a
Mount Laurel police officer was pinned
[50:53] between the door of his car and the door
and the car frame um and resulted which
[50:58] resulted in minor injuries. The vehicle
was later recovered in possession of a
[51:03] third subject who was not related to the
incident in our town. However, we
[51:07] impounded the vehicle for the execution
of a search warrant.
[51:11] Uh pursuant to that search warrant, the
suspect that we were looking for was
[51:14] subsequently identified and charged with
assault on police, eluding, criminal
[51:18] mischief, obstructing the administration
of law, and hindering his own
[51:21] apprehension.
Uh as you're all aware, uh but I wanted
[51:25] to recap for you, we've had several
personnel moves over the past few weeks.
[51:29] Um on June 30th, we held a walkout
ceremony for Chief Fletcher and Corporal
[51:33] Rob Bennett. It was a very nice event
that was well attended by family and
[51:36] friends. Uh, Sergeant Pacheco also
retired on that day, but he was unable
[51:40] to attend the walkout ceremony. But I'd
like to congratulate all of them on
[51:44] their retirement and wish them well in
their next endeavor. As a result of the
[51:48] retirements, we had uh several
promotions and moves within the agency.
[51:52] This included Dan O'Brien being promoted
to captain, Scott Wallace being promoted
[51:56] to lieutenant, Justin Jericho and
Jeffrey [snorts] Engel, both being
[51:59] promoted to patrol sergeant, Ron Soha uh
being appointed as the SRO corporal who
[52:05] will now be in the school to replace
officer or corporal Bennett. Uh Diego
[52:09] Alvarez was appointed to detect corporal
and Justin Warsaw was assigned to the
[52:13] detective bureau.
On June 18th, myself and the command
[52:17] staff attended Gloucester County Police
Academy. Um, it was the graduation of
[52:21] our newest officer, Joseph Donafrio. You
may recognize Joe's name. He was
[52:25] previously a class one with our officer,
I'm sorry, with our agency. He's already
[52:29] doing a great job in the FTO program,
and we anticipate that he will be
[52:32] complete sometime early in the fall. And
I would like to congratulate Shawn
[52:36] Martin on his selection as our newest
recruit officer. He's set to attend
[52:39] Gloucester County Police Academy
starting next month with an anticipated
[52:43] graduation date in December.
Um, as I previously reported, we are
[52:47] currently in the reacredititation
process with the New Jersey State
[52:50] Associated Chief Association of Chiefs
of Police. Our final assessment has been
[52:54] scheduled for Monday, August the 10th.
This will consist of two assessors who
[52:59] were both active chiefs coming to the
agencies to interview us and review our
[53:03] compliance with the policy procedures
and best practices set forth in the
[53:06] accreditation guidelines. They will then
prepare a report that will be submitted
[53:10] to the state chief's accreditation board
and we will appear in front of them
[53:13] sometime in October 2026 to find out the
results.
[53:17] Uh as far as our stats go for June, we
answered uh 2370 calls which works out
[53:22] to just about 79 calls a day. Um, some
of the more frequent ones were 38
[53:28] domestics, 77 motor vehicle crashes, 340
property checks, 18 shopliftings, 64
[53:35] suspicious activity calls, 22 thefts,
287 traffic stops, 21 trespassing
[53:40] complaints, and 93 well-being complaint
or well-being checks. Um, I just like to
[53:46] note that our next big event uh will be
National Night Out, which will be
[53:49] Tuesday, August the 4th. Um, it'll be
prior to our next meeting. So, I just
[53:53] want to get the word out for anybody who
uh is interested in coming in coming and
[53:57] attending. It's a night of free family
fun. Literally everything is free. Um
[54:02] whether it's food or games or events.
>> What's that?
[54:06] » Face painting. I know that's what you
like.
[54:07] » Face painting. Yeah. Um so, we encourage
everybody to come out. We're going to be
[54:10] at the high school again this year. Um
and just one sad note to pass along. Uh
[54:15] some of the uh residents who have been
around town for a while might remember
[54:19] retired Lieutenant Jim Rosselle. I just
got word yesterday that he passed away
[54:22] on July 2nd. Um I don't have a lot of
details. We did speak with his wife. Um
[54:27] she kind of seemed like she wanted to
keep things private, so we didn't push
[54:30] her on that, but I do know that he's
already been cremated. Um so there won't
[54:34] be any services for him.
>> Thank you.
[54:36] » That's my report. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[54:40] » Um engineer reports, we don't have any.
>> Okay. So moving over to sustainable
[54:44] farmers market is tomorrow night, 5 to 8
at the gazebo
[54:47] and BEDC.
So the BDC under old business um council
[54:52] I had sent you all a memo BDC me Oh
sorry Sandy am I taking your
[54:56] » No you
[laughter] go ahead.
[55:00] » So we had our last meeting um and at our
at our council last meeting we had
[55:04] discussed a little bit about BEDC where
we were going to go. Um you know that
[55:07] it's been something that's been on my
mind. It's been something that's also
[55:10] been on the members mind. So we had our
meeting um with the BEDC commission and
[55:15] really had a great conversation of just
where is the BEDC going? what do they
[55:19] need support-wise? Um, and so in front
of you there is a copy of what the
[55:25] current Business and Economic
Development Commission ordinance is. Um,
[55:28] and I've said this before, like this is
something that we knew that was going to
[55:31] be um, evolving into things. We'd have
to make some changes and whatnot. And
[55:35] just going off of my memo and the
discussions that we had, there's
[55:39] definitely some areas that we could, you
know, likely are going to require some
[55:42] ordinance amendments. Um, you know, my
memo had proposed to you that we make
[55:47] sure that we have representation from
Main Street Maplehade, main the Maple
[55:50] Shade Train Commission, a student
representative, additional corporate
[55:53] representation, and then broader
community organizations. I've heard back
[55:57] from Main Street Maple Shade. They got
back to me um yesterday afternoon. They
[56:01] will be coming to attend our next
meeting so that we can have a
[56:04] conversation with them. We've had a
conversation already with um Maple
[56:08] Street Business Association, so there's
discussions there. you know, the train
[56:12] station commission is already there. Um,
but the current the way the ordinance
[56:15] currently specifies is we say exactly
who's going to be a part of that. So,
[56:20] because those they're specifically
mentioned there, we probably need we not
[56:25] probably, we would need to amend that
portion of the section. Um, my
[56:29] recommendation is going to be that
instead to just name the organization
[56:32] specifically, we go with a change
possibly to just community
[56:36] organizations. We have three
representatives that would we could put
[56:39] and hold spots there. the student
ambassador. We had speak we had spoken
[56:43] about that. Everybody was on board. Um I
know council had even discussed and I
[56:46] think that would be great to put a
student ambassador on. Um the main
[56:50] street partnership will be huge. Uh and
we do not I want to be very clear. This
[56:55] is not about creating a merger with
them, taking them away. That's not it.
[56:58] But we really feel that we need them
part of it. We that we need to all be
[57:02] acting together as opposed to hey this
is what we're doing. Would you like to
[57:06] come join us? So they need to have a
voice at the table there. um the
[57:10] economic development liaison council
could adopt a policy resolution either
[57:15] directing me as the you know as the
manager we could consider a full-time
[57:19] coordinator again a part-time
coordinator possibly go into a shared
[57:23] service look for a grant-f funded
position I kind of stay away you know
[57:27] from the grant funded position because
if you lose grant funding and it's not
[57:30] something that we're budgeting for then
you don't have that consistency there
[57:34] and then really just like as well to
simplify membership um the current
[57:38] ordinance has 13 voting members, two
exeicio and four at large, which means
[57:43] that's 19 people. That's a large
commission. Um, so I would recommend
[57:48] possibly reducing voting membership to
around 11 or 13 and then using advisory
[57:52] liaison in there. Um, definitely to
clarify the exeicio roles. The ordinance
[57:58] currently references the director of
business and economic development. as
[58:01] you know that current position is vacant
and the ordinance said I'm saying that
[58:06] the ordinance could say something the
township manager or designate or an
[58:09] economic development coordinator if
established. So these are just some
[58:12] things that I'm cons you know making
recommendations how we could do uh the
[58:16] ordinance and then also I think which
was very uh important and something that
[58:19] the commission spoke about was really
clarifying council's expectations um
[58:24] having measurable goals what it is that
council um you know is is really looking
[58:28] for and I I believe that you all
probably would you know appreciate
[58:32] having some sort of annual work plan
what it is that we're actually going to
[58:35] do. So each January we could set the
priorities, the goals, the proposed
[58:38] events, any legislative recommendations
of what we could be working on and what
[58:42] we wanted to work towards and then an
annual performance report. I know that
[58:46] our previous economic development
coordinator, she did provide an annual
[58:50] report um because we don't have one now.
There's not something that went to
[58:53] council this year. Um but you know,
putting these priorities in there and
[58:57] making it very clear of what the
expectations are.
[59:01] Good. Um, so and I just think that helps
with accountability as opposed to us
[59:06] real counsel or myself really overseeing
everything that happens with that
[59:09] commission. So some of the questions
that need to be answered uh, you know,
[59:13] is what is council looking for? And I'm
not looking for an answer tonight. I
[59:16] think if this is an ongoing
conversation, but you know, is it just
[59:19] going to be an advisory board, an
advisory body? Is it going to be a vet
[59:23] planning body? Is it going to be an
economic development body? or we going
[59:26] to do something a combination which
really is where we've been a combination
[59:30] of all that how that you know who all
has the seat we have our current
[59:34] representation um we know how we
basically want to go with you know
[59:38] making sure the train commission is on
there a youth and also uh Main Street
[59:42] Maple Shade and then what staffing
support is appropriate are we looking at
[59:46] just a volunteer model that was one of
the biggest concerns of of the
[59:49] commission membership you know that as
volunteers they don't have the ability
[59:53] during the day really to be able to pick
up the phone and call that developer or
[59:57] speak with that developer. So, we need
to find that that happy medium in the
[1:00:02] middle. Yes, I'm taking a lot of those
calls, which is fine. Sometimes I'm not
[1:00:07] in the office. I'm out at, you know, out
at meetings and whatnot. So, I'm delayed
[1:00:10] in getting back to these developers and
when they call, they want to know
[1:00:13] exactly who they're going to be able to
speak to. And then from council is, you
[1:00:17] know, what should success look like? Uh,
one of the comments that the commission
[1:00:21] made was it it needs to be more than,
well, did you bring us any new
[1:00:24] businesses?
They're not able to do really do that if
[1:00:28] they're not going to be here full-time
or, you know, during the day. Um, so
[1:00:32] those those are the measurable things.
Again, I have three phases, you know,
[1:00:37] just what we can do immediately, what I
think could be put in, you know, as
[1:00:40] we're doing some ordinance amendments
and then really getting the commission
[1:00:43] to to implement. You know, we have six
more meetings uh throughout the year.
[1:00:47] This could be something that over the
next six months we work I I'm really
[1:00:51] looking for council's input as to what
it is that you want to see that
[1:00:54] commission do or if you don't want to
see it do. So that's my pitch.
[1:00:59] » Okay.
>> What do I got?
[1:01:02] » Thanks.
>> I think council you have something
[1:01:04] » I I think we need to keep it all
volunteer. I I think it was successful
[1:01:10] with the advisory board and
those presentations and things can be
[1:01:16] done to us as council and council can
decide.
[1:01:20] Um
I don't think that we really need to
[1:01:25] reinvent the wheel when it comes to it.
I think that the people in this town
[1:01:28] that are going to volunteer on this
board in the past were very successful
[1:01:32] at the things that they did. And I think
if they have the opportunity, I think
[1:01:36] they'll thrive and and do the same
thing. [snorts] It was always the the
[1:01:41] end result was it was always discussed
in this room with the public and and
[1:01:45] township council. So, um
I think somehow or another that all has
[1:01:52] to be integrated into it.
>> So, let me be clear, it is still all
[1:01:55] volunteer. There was just we did have we
did have the position at one point. Um
[1:02:00] and what our volunteer members and what
we're seeing is is that the volunteer
[1:02:03] members that were largely a part of the
advisory board are the the volunteers
[1:02:08] actually because of course I
>> because you've been a part of it. So I'm
[1:02:11] a part of that. Of course the the
volunteers themselves all the business
[1:02:15] people and everyone that's been there
and with the uh old ABC and all that
[1:02:20] they they need some some guidance and
some teeth. They want to know what they
[1:02:24] can do because they don't have all the
time to put into this. So, they're kind
[1:02:28] of leaning towards uh maybe a, you know,
a part-time person u being put in into
[1:02:35] place instead of maybe a full-time. They
need just a little bit more guidance
[1:02:40] because there's there's a lot that
happens to get people
[1:02:46] into Maple Shade, get the vacancies
filled, um help to retain the businesses
[1:02:52] that we have here. And everybody is in
has their own businesses that are there
[1:02:57] or their own whatever they have walk of
life they have and other organizations.
[1:03:02] So they can't do it all. They they do
need our help and our guidance and it it
[1:03:07] may it may be the fact that we need to
have someone to help in that that area.
[1:03:13] So I'm just saying that's what general
consensus was at the meeting. They were
[1:03:19] kind of
really upset about all that. So,
[1:03:22] » well, I understand all that, but today's
world with technology, emails, and back
[1:03:27] and forth, I mean, you might not be
physically able to talk to somebody, but
[1:03:31] I think before we go into jumping into
hiring somebody right away,
[1:03:35] » well, it's not it's not going to be a
jump. I mean, it's just we're just
[1:03:38] talking through this right now.
>> And I'm I'm suggesting that we just do
[1:03:43] this slowly and really evaluate it.
>> Well, we can always look at different uh
[1:03:48] you know, different options, different
ways to approach. So, but it's just
[1:03:53] their concern that they they need our
help and they need some guidance in that
[1:03:57] area.
>> So, like I said, this isn't for a
[1:04:00] decision this evening, but those are the
things that came out of of the memo.
[1:04:03] That's kind of a breakdown. These are
things that I'm recommending. You have a
[1:04:06] copy of the other ordinance, and then I
mean, we meet again August 6th. We
[1:04:09] definitely can have the conversation
again. So,
[1:04:11] » if you're bringing the all these
organizations together, how how are they
[1:04:16] going to structure it to be having a
meeting? Who's going to be in charge of
[1:04:20] it? They're my questions. I mean, if you
have all these different organizations,
[1:04:24] you know, somebody I think from the
township, you know, maybe a liaison from
[1:04:30] the the committee itself is on that that
runs the meeting so that that we're all
[1:04:36] made aware of what's going on. The
communications is directly with council
[1:04:41] and it can go back and forth, I think, a
lot smoother. So, it's currently set up
[1:04:46] again like the chairwoman was the
business and economic development
[1:04:49] director and then there was a like a a
subchair with one of the volunteers. Um,
[1:04:55] currently what's happening is so that
the meetings can still go on. I've taken
[1:04:58] that role of like the chair making sure
that the the agenda gets done running
[1:05:02] the meeting but it's based on
conversations that the volunteers have
[1:05:05] there and I guess we've had what we have
about 14 people that come to um
[1:05:09] » and we had a full full house
>> we had a full we had full right we still
[1:05:12] we have three vacancies currently so now
is the time if we're going to fill those
[1:05:16] vacancies too is to let's let's
rearrange what we're going to do with
[1:05:19] the membership and how we're classifying
the members. Um, so I would just ask
[1:05:24] that you, you know, that you take a peek
at this or you just kind of go over
[1:05:26] this, give it some thought, let me know
your thoughts. Again, we meet, the BEEDC
[1:05:30] meets next week, uh, next, no, the 21st,
sorry, 21st, we meet two Tuesdays. Um,
[1:05:36] so they meet again on the 21st. I'd like
to be able to take something. So,
[1:05:40] please, you know, shoot me an email with
your thoughts and conversations at least
[1:05:44] and then I can get that going back and
forth between every
[1:05:46] » council attend these meetings.
>> Yes.
[1:05:47] » So, yes, you can come. So, it's not a
problem.
[1:05:50] » I thought we were invited to that one.
No. Yeah.
[1:05:52] » Okay.
>> So,
[1:05:53] » okay.
>> Because there won't there won't be any
[1:05:55] true business discussed. So, you can
come, you can see, but there can't be
[1:05:58] any business.
>> No township business discussed.
[1:06:01] » So, the purpose will stay the same as it
currently or is that something else you
[1:06:04] want us to look at?
>> So, we can we can change it a little
[1:06:07] bit. We can come up with some different
I know different items. I know I have
[1:06:11] what do I have in there? I have uh I
forget what I have in there now. uh
[1:06:17] perhap you know if it was just going to
be if they want it to be a um an event
[1:06:22] body or personally I think it should be
a combination body it should be somebody
[1:06:25] that's doing some sort of events it
should be something that's doing that
[1:06:28] we're doing legisl and that's what was
originally the intent was some sort of
[1:06:31] legislation that's coming back with
ordinance changes that we're speaking to
[1:06:34] members of the community we're speaking
to businesses in the community simple it
[1:06:38] might be the sign ordinance you know
we're putting something in place on um
[1:06:41] you know on our downtown in our main
street area for facade improvements and
[1:06:45] that would be something that BEDC says,
yeah, like this is what we would like to
[1:06:48] see. We're working with the planner,
working with these people, and then go
[1:06:51] to the land use board and say, hey, like
this is what this is what has been
[1:06:55] discussed. And then the land use board
would come back and say, hey council,
[1:06:59] you this is what we've heard from our
businesses. This is what we've heard
[1:07:02] from then, the BEDC commission. We'd
like to implement these changes. So, I
[1:07:07] think it should be a combination, but if
you have other ideas, I mean, I'm I'm
[1:07:10] all open.
>> No, that that's person. I don't want to
[1:07:12] be negative so I'm really not speaking
but
[1:07:14] » we just I
>> that's what I struggle with because
[1:07:16] looking at these five purposes what
>> what have we done in the couple years
[1:07:22] that we've had the EDC that
[1:07:27] » so we brought we brought new events from
those events we've actually and I still
[1:07:31] have them calling we still have I have
businesses that have called that are
[1:07:34] like children familyfriendly businesses
that have said they want to come back
[1:07:37] and now they're supporting our other
events in the town we have the 50/50
[1:07:41] DARE network that we've been invited to
that Maple Shade was never invited to.
[1:07:44] And that's where we go and we're
actually and we're speaking with the
[1:07:46] developers, the people that are actually
the ones purchasing the land, building
[1:07:49] the projects, doing those things. The
problem is is that now because we don't
[1:07:53] have that direct person to call they're
they're wondering like where we are in
[1:07:57] the whole process. So, we have to get
back to okay, who is going to be that
[1:08:01] liaison? Be honest with you, it cannot
be council. They can't be calling
[1:08:04] council directly because it's a part of
operations. If it's going to be me,
[1:08:07] that's fine. I don't have a problem with
it, but we need to relay that then back
[1:08:11] to the VEDC so that they know and what
things they're going to be doing. Um, so
[1:08:16] there have been things. It's it's also
not something that and
[1:08:19] » we've had the color run which was a huge
>> Yeah, I know we had events like you know
[1:08:22] to study the future of all highway
commercial business districts and
[1:08:24] downtown areas. Um,
>> we got the we got the um the ribbon
[1:08:28] cutings up. So right the easy things for
us to do was the
[1:08:33] » the easy things was the events that
that's something that's something that
[1:08:35] everybody can see
>> business
[1:08:37] » right the biggest thing we had the
business appreciation dinner where they
[1:08:40] can all meet and they're getting those
networking
[1:08:42] » what we've been struggling with is that
okay we need to get them here and make
[1:08:46] roots like that's what we need
>> it's the everyday things that you have
[1:08:50] to do
>> you know basically as your job to get
[1:08:53] out there so people have jobs and they
can't do these things
[1:08:58] » a joburing the You know what I mean?
It's impossible.
[1:09:00] » You're stupid. No,
>> I I [laughter] can't agree with that.
[1:09:03] I'm just going to be quiet.
>> But so it is it's that's what that's
[1:09:05] what it comes down. We have to see what
this commission wants to do and what you
[1:09:08] expect out of them. And then I think
from there is where we can say, okay,
[1:09:12] this is what the design is. Um it was
never intended that in the first two
[1:09:16] years that we'd be jumping off the
ground and we'd have, you know, 10
[1:09:18] businesses, new businesses come to town.
Um it's how do we get them here and what
[1:09:22] is it? We have to listen to these
business owners and and the and the
[1:09:25] owners that we currently have as well.
And that's why I think it's so important
[1:09:28] too that we keep business owners on the
machine.
[1:09:30] » It always was.
>> So, okay, anybody else? [clears throat]
[1:09:35] » All right, moving over to the IFC.
>> Um, so I think that is now obvious the
[1:09:41] last meeting that we had, we were
discussing having a meeting with them
[1:09:44] and I know council, you had said that
you wanted to see their um their
[1:09:48] financials. So, with Mr. Deulo just
giving that to us this evening, I think
[1:09:52] that you all should take a opportunity
to review them. You want to review them
[1:09:55] now. I don't think that's really
something that we should um you know
[1:09:59] take them let's come up with some
questions and then we can come up with
[1:10:01] some sort of dates or whatnot.
>> This is this suffice like it doesn't
[1:10:05] have the budget it's just the
>> this is their profit. Yeah, this is
[1:10:08] their profit and loss budget. Honestly,
I haven't looked at it so I have to I
[1:10:11] have to go through it and see. But
>> I just want to put it on record too that
[1:10:15] I don't have anything prepared for what
we spoke about as far as the fire the
[1:10:20] fire department. I've been waiting uh
for three weeks to four weeks for the
[1:10:26] information and I just received it
yesterday and two days ago. So I haven't
[1:10:32] had a time to review it. Uh so um
through the through the month for uh for
[1:10:40] July I'm going to look at it and start
putting things together. They were
[1:10:44] requested. You know, John, you wanted to
do it and open. So, I told you I'd do
[1:10:49] it, but unfortunately, my request wasn't
uh fulfilled in time.
[1:10:59] Okay.
[1:11:02] So, going over to new business,
uh we have a motion to go back into
[1:11:07] closed if needed. I believe it is needed
>> is needed for litigation. So, can we
[1:11:12] have a motion to go back and close?
>> So, made
[1:11:16] » a second
>> comments.
[1:11:18] » This um just to make [snorts] everyone
aware, Councilman Sek, you'll need to
[1:11:22] recuse yourself from this one. It's
litigation that includes
[1:11:26] » What's that?
>> You'll need to recuse yourself from this
[1:11:28] litigation from this discussion.
It's litigation that includes your case.
[1:11:34] » Okay. All in favor? I
>> I Okay. So, we're going for matters
[1:11:38] required
[1:11:43] Matters related to contract negotiation.