[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.

Township Council Meeting - 07/09/2026

Transcript