[0:00] All right. Thank you. I'd like to call
the meeting to order. Please rise for
[0:04] the pledge to the flag
[0:08] to the flag of the United States of
America and to the republic for which it
[0:13] stands. One nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice
[0:18] for all.
>> Thank you. Roll call, please.
[0:22] » Mayor,
>> present.
[0:24] » Councilman Maria,
>> here. Councilman Cox
[0:29] » here.
>> Council,
[0:33] Council Member Graves
>> here.
[0:35] » Council member Gri
member
[0:39] » here.
>> Right. Um, please read the open public
[0:42] meetings act statement.
>> This is a regular scheduled meeting of
[0:46] the mayor and council Winona being held
in accordance with the open public
[0:50] meetings act also known as the front
title. And the schedule was adopted by
[0:55] resolution 2026-3
and published in New Jersey Advanced
[0:59] Media and on our website.
>> Thank you. And can I have a motion,
[1:04] please, to adopt our agenda?
>> So moved.
[1:06] » Second.
>> Uh, all in favor?
[1:08] » Opposed?
>> Right. Can I have a motion, please, for
[1:13] approval of our April 23rd and May 11th
uh council meeting minutes from April
[1:18] 23rd and special council minutes from
May 11th? Motion to approve April 23rd,
[1:22] 2026 council meetings.
>> Second.
[1:25] » We got to separate everything, right?
>> Okay. Um, can I have a roll call,
[1:29] please, for April 23rd?
[1:33] » Yes.
>> H,
[1:34] » yes.
>> Graves,
[1:36] » yes.
>> Yes.
[1:39] » Uh, can I have a motion, please, for May
11th?
[1:42] » So moved.
>> Second.
[1:43] » Okay. Roll call, please.
>> Barbados,
[1:48] » here.
C.
[1:50] » Yes.
>> Great.
[1:54] » Yes.
>> Thank you.
[1:57] » All right. U moving on to our business.
Um Dan, would you please go ahead and
[2:03] give us our Oh, we have to do privilege
of the floor first.
[2:06] » Uh can I get a motion to open to the
floor for agenda items only?
[2:10] » Second.
>> Okay. Um all in favor? I
[2:13] » I
>> All right. So, we are open to the public
[2:17] for agenda items only.
Motion to close for the public.
[2:21] » Second.
>> Okay. All in favor?
[2:23] » I I
motion to approve resolution 202663
[2:28] authorizing the governing body
certification of the 2025 annual audit.
[2:32] » Second.
>> Okay. Uh roll call, please.
[2:36] » Barba,
>> yes.
[2:38] » Cox,
>> yes.
[2:40] » Yes.
[2:47] » I'm sorry. Sir,
[2:52] » we good?
>> Yes.
[2:53] » Motion to approve resolution 202664
in support of approving the sustainable
[2:58] community grant with Atlantic City
Electric.
[3:00] » Second.
>> Okay. Uh, roll call.
[3:03] » Barbara,
>> yes.
[3:05] » Cox,
>> yes.
[3:07] » Yes.
>> Yes. Motion to approve resolution 202665
[3:12] approving sub submission of grant
application with NJ do for roadway
[3:18] improvements to South Princeton.
>> Second roll call.
[3:23] » Yes.
>> Cox,
[3:24] » yes.
>> Yes.
[3:27] » Yes. Motion to approve resolution 202666
approving special uh special item
[3:33] chapter 159 clean communities in the
amount of $7,28727
[3:40] inserted into the budget.
Roll call.
[3:43] » Barbados,
>> yes.
[3:46] » Cox,
>> yes.
[3:47] » Graves,
>> yes.
[3:48] » Yes. Motion to approve ordinance 202611,
first read amending section 3A 21
[3:56] subsection 3 of the burough code
entitled residential development fees.
[4:00] » Second.
>> Roll call.
[4:05] » Yes.
>> Hot.
[4:06] » Yes.
>> Graves.
[4:07] » Yes.
>> Yes. Motion to approve ordinance 202612.
[4:11] First read, authorizing capital
ordinance appropriation appropriating
[4:15] $250,000 from the HUD grant.
[4:21] » Uh roll call
>> Barbad.
[4:25] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[4:26] » Graves.
>> Yes.
[4:29] » Yes.
>> All right. Thank you. And the public
[4:31] hearing for both of those two ordinances
will be on our next meeting, July 23rd.
[4:36] Um Jonathan
[4:40] Oh, I'm sorry. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Uh,
all right. We're going to move on to
[4:44] other business. Jonathan, we'll have you
stay on for these as well, please.
[4:47] » Okay.
>> Um,
[4:50] » motion approving the Winona Lake
Association waving the admission fee for
[4:55] 1 hour for anything that floats on 74th
July at 3 p.m.
[5:01] » Okay. Um,
roll call.
[5:07] Yes.
>> Cox.
[5:08] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[5:11] » Yes.
>> Motion approving the Winona Lake
[5:14] Association winding of song and dance
event September 19th, 2026 between 5 and
[5:18] 11:00 p.m.
>> Um, all in favor?
[5:22] » I
>> opposed. I
[5:26] » motion approving the Winona Lake
Association haunted trail event at
[5:29] Winona Lake on October 24th, 2026
between 6:30 and 9:30 p.m.
[5:34] » Second.
>> All in favor? I
[5:37] » I
>> opposed. All right. Very good. Thank
[5:41] you.
>> Motion approving street closures on
[5:43] Friday, November 27th, 2026 for women's
club for the turkey truck. The time for
[5:49] that to happen.
>> Uh the time would be it's usually uh
[5:53] about 8:30 a.m.
>> It starts at 9:30.
[5:56] » Yeah.
>> Just for continuity.
[5:58] » Yeah, they close they Yeah, it starts at
9:00 a.m. So about 8
[6:01] » probably 8:30 to like 11:30. Yes,
>> I guess
[6:05] » we can we can confirm that time with
them, but let's go with 8:30 to 11:30.
[6:10] » Time will second.
>> Okay. Uh all in favor?
[6:15] » I
>> I
[6:16] » opposed.
Motion approving street closures on
[6:21] Saturday, December 5th, 2026 for Holiday
Market on Southeast Avenue between 10:00
[6:26] a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Rain date will be
Sunday, December 6th at 2026.
[6:30] » Second. All in favor?
>> I I
[6:35] » All right. Very good.
>> All right, Jonathan, thank you for
[6:39] calling in.
>> Thank you for accommodating.
[6:42] » All right, safe travels.
>> All right, take care. Thank you.
[6:45] » Bye.
[6:48] » Hang on.
>> All right, moving on. Uh committee
[6:52] reports. We Jean is not here. We did
receive a report from our lake managers.
[7:00] um that is has been submitted. I don't
Oh, you're here. I didn't see you come
[7:04] in. I apologize. Would you like to make
your report?
[7:07] » Uh yes.
Um so for those that don't know me, my
[7:12] name is Elena Thump. I'm co-manager of
the lake with Colleen Johnson. Um this
[7:17] year we have four assistant managers,
six feet guards, and 14 lifeguards. So
[7:22] we're looking very good um staffing
wise. Um, this year, Colleen and I are
[7:29] going to start doing employee of the
week. Um, we think it'll help like
[7:33] keeping everyone motivated throughout
the season. Um, so like someone needs to
[7:38] save for example.
Um,
[7:44] on weekends we're doing some staffing
increasing. So, especially for the life
[7:49] bars, we're going to do four life bars
on from 10:30 to 3:30. And then for life
[7:55] bars from 3:30 to 8. Um, and we're going
to be in 20 minute rotations. Um, I
[8:01] think this will help because we tend to
get a lot on the weekends and we're
[8:05] starting that this weekend. So,
hopefully everything goes well. Um, we
[8:11] did have five teams so far this season,
one actually today. So,
[8:18] That's why we're implementing this new
coverage to hopefully
[8:23] get around that,
>> keep everybody safe. Yeah.
[8:26] » Yeah. Um we also have an overlapping
manager shift on the weekends which has
[8:31] been very helpful. Um a lot of times
like we get very crowded at the shack.
[8:38] So, it's helping to get two people out
at a time and make um people signing in
[8:42] more quickly or if someone wants to do
day pass, guest passes, they will use
[8:47] moves a lot more smoothly.
Um I just update uh lake association
[8:53] bought us like Coyote decoys and they
have been helping. They've started to
[8:58] kind of figure out that they're fake,
but some days they come, some days they
[9:03] don't. And now that we're open full
time, they haven't really been around as
[9:06] much. So, that was great. Um, we're
planning on doing a midsummer staff
[9:12] meeting and we're just going to rego
over our emergency action plan
[9:16] considering we've had a few saves so far
this year. So, it's back in everyone's
[9:20] mind and kind of do like a like
simulation of doing a save and what
[9:26] we're supposed to do. Um,
and that's everything we have today.
[9:35] » Great. Thank you. Thank you for the
report. Um, all right, moving on to
[9:40] public works.
>> Thank you, mayor. Um, like to say we're
[9:44] getting busy. Um, and we would like to
thank Deford for helping us out with
[9:50] our bridge. Um, it was a tremendous help
and the
[9:55] » collegiality between the towns is is
it's a good fix. It's not perfect, but
[10:00] it's it's a lot better than it was. I'm
happy with how it came out.
[10:05] So on top, do you have anything else to
add? So did they notice today that
[10:10] should be mobilizing next week? Start
drilling. They might start drilling in
[10:16] the middle of the week. What it looks
like for well
[10:22] » just in time for the holiday charge
charge a double. Uhhuh. I'm going to
[10:26] have a a meeting with him early next
week and we'll decide whether push
[10:30] should maybe after the holiday start
[10:36] at least
want to do a little announcement or
[10:40] something.
Um, I'll also add, maybe this would have
[10:45] been part of the personnel report, but
it's also public works. We hired a new
[10:50] » We hired a new employee. We starting
Monday.
[10:54] We have him running with only one labor.
[10:59] » I'll tell you, he's doing a great job
and he always smiles and waves. So, I
[11:03] won't complain.
>> You got a good labor right now. doing a
[11:08] perfect job
to say somebody else to help.
[11:16] » That's it.
>> Thank you. All right. Public safety.
[11:19] » Thank you. Uh
committee met um to discuss uh safety
[11:25] measures for the 4th of July. Um so uh
given that this is both for the leadup
[11:33] to the fourth uh specifically the
softball meeting before as well as the
[11:39] day of the events um as the Lions Club
just hayes and I think we have a uh good
[11:49] plan in effect it's helpful that Hayes
grew up here knows culture knows what to
[11:54] prioritize uh and to ensure that we
don't have any uh which is
[12:02] a large part that will be the focus to
short no
[12:10] um
>> can I ask are they planning to use both
[12:12] fields again the flyer only listed one
field
[12:15] » my understanding is that they still use
both fields um and I discussed with them
[12:20] the logistics of that um in terms of
driving and that there is going to be a
[12:27] a
Uh
[12:29] while there will be people driving um
there'll be absolutely no tolerance for
[12:34] any alcohol consumption and long drive
into the fields and there'll be a
[12:40] presence uh and uh
posted signage which reminds people that
[12:48] absolutely
no tolerance for such a
[12:53] um
shout out to uh our police force for um
[13:01] what I recognized that the farmers
market uh people we had posted have uh
[13:06] on multiple occasions I there have
gone beyond call duty help people and uh
[13:16] that were setting up and just overseeing
everything. Uh it it's helpful that
[13:23] our force is uh takes upon themselves to
integrate themselves into our community
[13:30] and create that atmosphere where there's
trust built on a personal level. Um they
[13:37] continue to uh oversee avenue and
I'll give some stats on
[13:47] the speed summaries for posted speed
signs. Uh eastbound uh 22 mph average.
[13:56] Um for the month we had 135,000
vehicles. Westbound 120,000 and a speed
[14:04] limit or rather a average speed of 24
miles hour. And then on Jefferson we had
[14:12] about 31 miles per hour average speed
64,000
[14:19] volume
[14:23] that is again we continue to monitor lab
it's always been an issue um we have uh
[14:31] extra officers in there in that area
daily myself included um we also had um
[14:38] missed persons that we found pretty
relatively quickly. Uh it had medical
[14:42] issues. We had one motor vehicle that
was stolen. RPD found it and was
[14:46] returned to the owner within 24 hours.
Um residents reported a couple of uh
[14:52] attempted uh burglaries to the vehicles.
So we beefed up patrols for that area.
[14:57] Uh obviously the farmers market will
continue to have officers there for
[15:00] that. Fourth of July, we'll have besides
the six guys that we have working, we'll
[15:05] have eight people working that day full
to assist in every manner that necessary
[15:11] and we also try to keep it when we feel
and we're not overbearing at all. We're
[15:16] just there just in case anyone needs. Um
and uh we're going through accreditation
[15:22] again. So we just start back back up
again. Uh and uh Lieutenant Hos will be
[15:29] in charge of that. And it's pretty much
and we just got paid training. So all
[15:34] our guys
updated. So not that you guys care, but
[15:39] still easily, but you never know. Um so
uh and that's pretty much it.
[15:44] » Thank you.
>> And I see the chief here. He submitted a
[15:49] report. Uh Jack, I don't know.
[15:56] » Oh, we had um we celebrated two of our
members graduated from high school from
[16:00] Gateway this week. That was very
exciting.
[16:03] » Very nice.
>> And we'll put out and the fire company
[16:06] always does jointly and I think the
police do as well, reminders about
[16:09] fireworks as we do every year.
>> Um also just for the sake of our our
[16:15] furry friends that you know and of
course public safety. uh in general. Um
[16:22] great. Thank you very much. Uh finance
and budget.
[16:25] » Yes. So uh thank you, mayor. Um two
things for this month. Um we have the
[16:30] results of our audit. Seems like that
went pretty well. Um those are in the
[16:34] minutes um for review. Um and then uh
just an update on the swim season
[16:39] membership sales. Uh as of June 23rd, um
sold a total of 750 tags. Um
[16:48] 317 of those were purchased by residents
which is 42% and 43 uh 433 which is 58%
[16:55] were purchased by non-residents. Um
we have approximately
[17:00] 811 households in the burough. Uh we
have 11% so far that have purchased
[17:05] memberships. Um
through the end of May uh we were down a
[17:11] little bit from last year on membership
sales but sales but I think we saw a
[17:14] huge uptick in June. So, I'm hoping that
that will um free out when we get the
[17:18] end of month numbers for this month. So,
um that's
[17:24] » Thank you. Okay. Um public buildings and
grounds is not here. Um and human
[17:30] services is not here. So, we'll move on
to the engineers report.
[17:34] » Thank you, mayor. Um couple of items. I
guess kind of a followup. We had a
[17:38] public works meeting last month where we
talked about a number of roadways
[17:41] throughout the town that are kind of
problematic. Parker Road being one,
[17:44] Lynon Avenue being another, uh the
intersections at Manua Avenue of our
[17:49] various uh local roadways and then uh
Lyndon Street. So, uh we decided um and
[17:56] uh the municipal aid applications for
DOT are due on July 1st. So, what ended
[18:01] up happening was we are going for a
municipal a application for South
[18:05] Avenue. I saw the resolution on the
agenda tonight. I actually send in the
[18:08] application today uh following with the
state uh Lynen Avenue and Barkbridge
[18:13] Road. We had a meeting with Deford
Township over those two roadways and
[18:16] Deford uh as Dan mentioned earlier
stepped up to the plate and actually
[18:20] repaired the worst parts of Barkidge
Road for us. So that was a a nice little
[18:24] benefit. Uh we were actually looking to
mill and overlay that. But I think with
[18:27] the repairs they finished, we might get
another couple of years out of that road
[18:30] before we have to take action on some
kind of mill and overlay. Uh we talked
[18:35] about Lynen Street with Deeper Township
and Lynden is uh it's a complicated one
[18:39] and that may take a couple of years to
to bring into fruition. Uh there's some
[18:43] utility uh implications with water and
sewer and different residents and
[18:47] different MUA. Uh those issues kind of
have to be ironed out before we really
[18:51] think about painting the roadway and
what we're going to do with the roadway.
[18:54] And the roadway once again is shared by
Deer with Deer Township. So uh what we
[18:58] discussed is is possible future joint
application to NJT local aid
[19:02] infrastructure fund uh to cover the
roadway improvements but that
[19:07] application is far from being uh
submitted or even worked on because I
[19:11] think we need to work out the utility
details with the NUA first and find out
[19:15] uh what we're doing uh more specifically
about the different township residents
[19:18] on the opposite side of the street
because they don't have public warrants
[19:20] so they're not well and septic and we
have public warrants so we're in Lincoln
[19:25] Avenue so there will need to be like in
the local agreement with the NUA to
[19:29] bring those people on on board to uh the
Moni utility system. So that's a
[19:34] long-term thing. It involves an
interlocal agreement that I'm sure
[19:37] you'll be involved in that time.
>> So uh that that's a long-term project
[19:41] Lynon unfortunately. But fortunately for
Lynon is Dford Township once again
[19:44] stepped up and they did some repairs of
some of the worst parts of the Lynon
[19:47] Avenue roadway. So that was very nice of
effort uh to cooperate like that. Uh the
[19:53] other one that I wanted to talk about
the Manual Avenue intersections,
[19:57] the Manual Avenue intersections, we've
decided to go for a local a
[20:00] infrastructure grant for those. So I'll
be working on that now that just
[20:02] submitted for Princeton. So we'll uh
we'll try to attack that next year. And
[20:08] uh no other updates really anything
else. I'm still waiting for the
[20:11] contractor to finish the punch list.
There's a couple items on street that I
[20:13] wanted to take care of before I submit
for final payment. So I'm hoping to get
[20:16] that done next month. I know hasn't been
for a couple of weeks now. I think the
[20:21] problem with them is I think they just
uh they got they got too busy.
[20:24] Contractor got too busy. He's still
taking over a lot of projects and now
[20:28] it's kind of like pulling teams trying
to get them back out here to finish up
[20:30] the small amount of work that they have
to do. So I'm holding my final payment
[20:33] till it's all done. Uh other than that,
there's a number of other things report
[20:36] if anybody has any questions. But those
are really the forefront of what's going
[20:40] on right now. You want to address the
night?
[20:44] » Oh, okay.
>> All right. Yeah. Um, as we all are well
[20:49] aware, we had a major rainstorm on
Monday. Uh, probably some of the hardest
[20:54] rain I've ever seen in my life to be
frankly honest with you. Uh, we had a
[20:58] lot of flooding problems. To no one's
surprise, that rain was so hard that
[21:02] there's no storm system that would be
able to handle that amount of runoff.
[21:05] So, we had flooding all over town. Uh,
some of the worst of it was really the
[21:10] genesis of was the railroad right away.
Uh, a lot of our storm sewers discharge
[21:16] into that ditch that adjacent to the
railroad. And when that ditch backs up,
[21:20] our storm sers back up and we had major
flooding on Southeast Avenue all the way
[21:26] from I would say Manswood down to Cedar
Street into Cedar Field. Uh I mean it
[21:32] was a at least a foot deep I would say
if not more. So I think Brian, if I'm
[21:37] not mistaken, saw someone from Conrail
out there and mentioned what was going
[21:40] on and they were actually surprised
because the water came so high up. I
[21:43] don't know how many of you are familiar
with Willow Street. They have an
[21:45] electrical box there. Uh controller box.
The the controller box was actually
[21:50] partially submerged under the water. Uh
apparently the alarm never went off.
[21:54] Conrad was never notified of it, but we
did find someone and let them know. And
[21:59] we're hoping that uh with that
initiation of a discussion that we can
[22:04] kind of grab Conra, get them out here to
maintain that ditch. Cuz as it stands
[22:08] right now, uh there's a lot of debris in
the ditch. A lot of debris is blocking
[22:11] the pipes at Willow Street. And if we
get hit with another rain, we're going
[22:15] to get more flooding. And if we as a
burrow cannot legally go into ground
[22:19] right away and clear that ditch, we uh
would expose ourselves to a tremendous
[22:23] amount of liability. And uh we we can't
do it. I think we would end up getting
[22:26] fined if I'm not mistaken, and we've
never done it. So, this is a Conrail
[22:30] issue. I know Jeff's mayor is uh is um
ready to take this to to the mayor's
[22:36] meeting and discuss with the with the
mayors of of adjacent municipalities who
[22:40] may be dealing with the same thing. And
hopefully after that meeting and
[22:44] subsequent there too, uh we'll get some
more action from Condrail. This is
[22:48] something we chase for years. I've been
here for 20 years. This is probably the
[22:51] fifth goound with Conrail to have them
come out and clean this ditch. They
[22:55] don't do it without someone asking. They
don't just come out and just, you know,
[22:58] we'll find them out there cleaning it.
It's really we've got to notify them
[23:01] and, you know, it'd be nice if they got
on a program like you know, once every
[23:05] two years or whatever, but they don't as
far as I know. Maybe that's something we
[23:08] can try to get them on because you know
this is becoming you know a frequent
[23:11] problem with this and and these storms
are becoming more frequent which means
[23:14] the flooding is becoming more frequent
which means the maintenance has to
[23:17] become more frequent and uh you know I
think they just need to be alerted of
[23:20] the fact because I don't think they just
have people out here every day like we
[23:23] are uh seeing what's going on
>> and my understanding is you know we are
[23:27] required to do a certain amount of
testing and maintenance of all of ours.
[23:31] They are exempt from those requirements.
Correct. So it
[23:34] » Yeah. I see. Okay. That that that's our
municipal stormware permit. We as a
[23:38] burrow and every municipality and also
public agencies uh are required to make
[23:44] sure these drain systems are clear.
Conrail is not subject to that
[23:47] additional storm water permit. So
they're not subject to those
[23:50] requirements. They're kind of exempt
more or less. I actually talked to the D
[23:53] about this months ago and uh they made
it clear to me that you know we have
[23:57] outfalls that go into the contrail uh
right away and those alpha falls are
[24:00] supposed to be maintained and I told you
know I basically mentioned to them that
[24:04] we don't have right to go in there and
maintain those outalls and I asked that
[24:08] they Conrail is is responsible for doing
that. They flat out told me that they
[24:12] don't they're not subject to the MS4
permit. So really it's up to them and
[24:16] that's you know I guess their own
maintenance policies to uh that.
[24:21] » Yeah. Well like you said the mayor's
association meets on Tuesday and I am
[24:25] going to bring this up because I'm sure
there are other municipalities that are
[24:28] also dealing with it and there's power
in numbers I think. So
[24:31] » especially after this last storm sure
we're not the only ones that experience
[24:34] flooding problems in the railroad
tracks.
[24:38] » Thank you.
>> Um I don't see Gary. He's probably
[24:43] somewhere exotic, so we'll He always is.
Uh, can we move on to approve the
[24:49] dispersements, please?
>> So, move.
[24:51] » Second.
>> Roll call, please.
[24:53] » Cox,
>> yes.
[24:55] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[24:59] » Motion open to the floor uh for any and
all items.
[25:02] » Second.
>> Um, all in favor?
[25:05] » Right. We are now open to the public.
Yes. Please state your name.
[25:09] » 107.
Um, I just want to make a mention we the
[25:13] the good Historical Society is having an
open house on June 30th from 7 to 9.
[25:19] It's going to be Fourth of July exhibit.
Anybody's welcome to come in. We're
[25:23] going to have light refreshments,
lemonade, water, and appetizers and
[25:27] dessert and um just get a pre fourth of
July celebration going. Um Jack and I
[25:33] went out to our uh son grandson's
baseball tournament in Portland and then
[25:38] we went over to the bigger and I send a
picture to Alex. They have their porch
[25:43] fest in Geneva and New York and u they
it's really cool. They do a fundraiser
[25:48] of the shirts from the merchandise. But
I just thought that was so neat because
[25:53] I was also somewhere else um local
reading about porch. Oh, it was in the
[25:58] AP magazine. But it's really neat
because it's starting to become a really
[26:02] big thing around the whole country and
is theirs is the end of I think it's
[26:07] this weekend. Um, the last thing is just
a safety thing. I know we all know that
[26:12] North Clinton is a great street. It's
nice and smooth, but the bicyclist, the
[26:17] motorbikes, the um scooters, motorized
scooters, and the motorized skateboard.
[26:23] Last week, I was totally blown away.
There's a kid with no helmet on. I did
[26:27] respond to someone on Facebook, blind
kid, young, probably like 11 or 12. He's
[26:33] on no helmet on the skateboard. was
motorized racing with the bikes and it I
[26:38] couldn't even say anything to him about
it they blew blew by so fast and my
[26:42] concern is there so loud the car did
cross street I mean I I don't know what
[26:47] else we can do other than the law comes
back
[26:55] » but it doesn't apply to scooters
>> or skateboards
[26:59] » or skateboards
>> correct so uh yeah I mean and The law is
[27:05] tricky. It's going to be tricky to
enforce, but there are certain things
[27:08] that are that are not part of that and
and the motorized scooters and
[27:10] skateboards are not part of it. So, you
know, I I say I feel like I say this
[27:14] every year uh 12 times a year is is we
have to um I think get messaging out to
[27:22] our parents around town and our
grandparents around town to make sure
[27:25] they are aware that it is the law in the
state of New Jersey that people ages 17
[27:30] and under are required to wear helmets.
>> Um I mean, I
[27:35] There's fatals constantly.
>> Yeah. And I personally think everyone
[27:38] I'm I'm personally really upset every
time I see an adult riding around town
[27:42] without a helmet on because your brain
will also get hurt if you fall. Um our
[27:46] brains don't become immune after we turn
17. Um and and regardless of how fast or
[27:52] slow you're going, you can fall and get
hurt. So I I would love it to be a law
[27:56] for everyone to have to wear a helmet,
but it certainly is for 17 and under. We
[28:00] do put out messaging uh multiple times a
year on our social media. Um you know, I
[28:06] try to encourage the school to do the
same. And I think the best thing we can
[28:09] do is is just continue to remind people
and educate them and then hope that the
[28:14] caregivers and the neighbors can help uh
reinforce that.
[28:18] » It's just sad because I mean I feel bad
for the motorists because those kids are
[28:22] not stopping at the stop signs. They may
glance, but they're just flying and they
[28:26] are flying the street. It's a great
street. I be smooth and be easy. And I I
[28:32] feel for the kids because I'm sure they
enjoy that, but they're also naive about
[28:42] if I may from a public safety
standpoint. I was going I've heard this
[28:45] from multiple people especially recently
seen Facebook posts
[28:51] and
to discuss it in terms of books
[29:01] is I see the kids I would definitely say
>> I think it takes a community
[29:08] » well you can start wearing helmets when
you ride your bike would be a great
[29:11] example for the
[29:14] It would I think if they see adults
wearing helmets, they would not maybe
[29:18] feel so bad about it. I I encourage all
the adults and the parents to wear
[29:22] helmets, too. We used to have a uh an
agreement with Dippies and Dippy would
[29:26] give us a stack police officers a stack
of of certificates
[29:33] » and we give to kids with helmets that
they want how much they get free
[29:37] » and that's that's something that we can
maybe I can reach out to them see if
[29:41] they want to start that back up for the
for the motor scooters too as well even
[29:45] the even the uh scoot regular scooters
escape rooms.
[29:48] » Yeah, I I think that's great. I mean,
rewarding good behavior is helpful.
[29:52] » Okay. Also make a suggestion. School
year's out and it's starting soon. Maybe
[29:56] we could work out with, you know, again,
that's not our partake at the school,
[30:00] but maybe police department could work
out something. They have an educational
[30:04] day
>> or something. I mean, I would like to do
[30:07] it at the school because then the kids
kind of be involved. Maybe just a sixth
[30:11] graders.
>> We've done that a couple of years. Um I
[30:14] didn't do it this past year, but the two
years prior we did. Um, we did a bike
[30:18] safety and we did a little ride around
and we gave away some helmets. Um,
[30:21] Rebecca Kre was great in getting us some
donations and we gave away equipment.
[30:25] So, I mean, we can definitely try to to
put it together again. Um, you know, and
[30:30] it's great, but but I will say that the
the kids and the parents that show up to
[30:33] that are the ones that are already
wearing the helmets.
[30:36] » So, you know, it's hard to get to the
ones who aren't. Um, so, but it does
[30:41] take an effort. Alex is absolutely
right. It takes a community and um
[30:44] hopefully we can all just keep chiming
in and and encouraging it. And I would
[30:49] hate to think, you know, that it's going
to take something bad happening for
[30:52] people to realize um but things do
happen all the time in in other
[30:56] communities. Um and it's scary.
>> We just lost a 16-year-old
[31:02] state.
[31:08] » Yeah.
>> Just last week.
[31:10] » It's a shame.
Thank you.
[31:13] » Yes. Sorry.
>> Okay.
[31:17] » Yes. Go ahead.
>> Okay. Sarah from 301 South Pand actually
[31:21] um came up in half of the lake and
myself. Um, I just wanted to kind of
[31:27] give a little report uh that this year
the lake association contributed to new
[31:32] fencing through whole park uh where
there were holes and damage and the
[31:40] entrance way going in has been refenced.
So, we should slow down on any kind of
[31:45] people sneaking in or going in and out
going out.
[31:50] Um, so that's complete. We also uh
purchased 20 new chairs
[31:55] and four Chase lounges. And I wanted to
reiterate that if anything was broken um
[32:02] to let us know so we could get a refund
um we found one Chase Lounge in the
[32:07] trash today and we just bought them.
It's only a week old. So anyway, uh that
[32:13] and um
we have some distribution of the
[32:18] postcards but not all. Uh also, um we
had an issue last week where um we
[32:26] received complaints of people who had
purchased tags
[32:33] but weren't able to come into the park
because there was the only record that
[32:38] was there was what you know their bank
statement. Um I don't know if that's
[32:44] been resolved. I certainly hope so. I
know one of our residents is here, but
[32:48] there were other people that were
involved with this and publicly wrote it
[32:53] on the site. So, um our site and you
know that falls on us even though that's
[32:59] not part of uh so hopefully I don't know
it has resolved for the weekend or any
[33:06] kind of holidays. Um and that makes it a
smoother transition for people to be
[33:13] able to enter even though they
especially residents that's was my kind
[33:18] of big I
didn't understand that. So what kind of
[33:25] things
>> I'm happy to respond but I'll let you
[33:27] finish your state first. Um, and then on
my own personal level, I just kind of
[33:32] wanted to know, is there a kid curfew in
town or No,
[33:37] » no, we have a noise ordinance at 11.
>> Better. That's it. Okay. I just was
[33:41] wondering because you know, school's out
and I know kids are hurting around and
[33:46] um I've been down this road before and
just was wondering if they actually had
[33:51] something. Obviously, it's not enforced.
Um, so it's interesting to hear all the
[33:57] numbers. Hopefully it increases, but
we'll see. Um, as far as membership goes
[34:03] because it's been high. Um, anyway, so
has there been any kind of resolve for
[34:09] people who have?
>> Yeah. Are you finished your statement?
[34:12] Cuz I'm answering. So yes. So here to
give some information.
[34:18] » This policy changed this year. We it
there was a meeting at the end of the
[34:22] season last season with the personnel
who managed the lake and the office
[34:28] personnel. Um we had some legal issues
last year and some of which are not
[34:33] resolved. So I cannot go into any
detail. Um, but as we've discussed at
[34:39] length, we have had to put a lot of new
practices in place this year to better
[34:45] protect the burrow's liability for
running this program because all of us
[34:49] do not want this program to be shut down
and certain actions and behaviors can
[34:54] lead to real issues that would threaten
the life and health of this program. So,
[35:00] one of the uh new policies that was
decided on is that entry to the lake for
[35:07] a member would not be permitted without
showing your member tag at and signing
[35:12] in with your member tag because we had a
lot of instances last year and in prior
[35:18] years, but last year was the big year
where it led to other problems of people
[35:22] refusing to do that or saying they were
a member and then having people come in
[35:27] with them who are not part of their
party, but sneaking them in and not
[35:31] paying the guest fee and everything
else. So, long story short, we put this
[35:35] in place. The language
is on the application form on the
[35:42] website that says tags will not be
available to be picked up until the next
[35:46] business day. So, what we did not
anticipate is that that language would
[35:52] not be clear to people who on a Saturday
morning went online to purchase their
[35:57] tags and then show up that same day to
try to enter the leak. What we have
[36:02] since done is put large old language at
the very top of the form when you go
[36:09] online that says online registration is
not available on weekends and federal
[36:14] holidays. The option to purchase a
membership on weekends is still
[36:19] possible. You may come to the lake in
person with cash or check. You may fill
[36:23] out all of the forms and you may be
given your tags and you may enter. But
[36:28] we cannot admit anyone to the property
without knowing that their registration
[36:34] forms have been properly and completely
filled out, that they have confirmed
[36:38] that they've read the rules,
that we have their accurate contact
[36:43] information, and it is for legal
reasons. And again, I can't discuss
[36:47] anything further other than to say it is
for the protection of the the program.
[36:52] We do feel badly that it wasn't a smooth
process for the first for this past
[36:58] weekend. We have done what we can to
address that so moving forward it will
[37:03] be clear to people and we will not
continue to have that problem.
[37:06] So if they want to come in and they
purchase it down the lake,
[37:13] what if for an example you well I have
my whole family here. Do I have do I get
[37:19] a reimbursement or refund because it
would be double if they paid for it
[37:24] there and they had or also paid for it
>> from this point forward they should not
[37:30] do an online purchase on a weekend or
holiday because the message went
[37:34] forward.
>> So I mean if we had anyone that's
[37:38] contacting us who double paid I'm sure
we can address that but I I'm not aware
[37:42] of anyone that has contacted us. I just
wonder if that happens, you know, if
[37:45] something should happen and and there's
still not clarity. Is that
[37:49] » I I'm sure that we could address it on a
case by case basis, but they would still
[37:53] need to complete the information and and
have it on file accurately on the
[37:58] property before they were enter.
>> No, the other part of this is we don't
[38:04] have secure internet at the lake. So we
are a government entity and we are
[38:09] required to do certain things with very
secure internet. We can't. So so we
[38:16] can't do that. That's why it's cash or
check on the day of. Hopefully if
[38:20] someone is able to plan in advance, they
will and they want to do it online, they
[38:24] can do that. You know, I I gave the
example to a few people earlier this
[38:28] week. It's like the DMV, right? If your
license expires and you need a new
[38:32] license, you're not going to be able to
go online that day, renew your license,
[38:35] and pick it up and get it on a weekend
if that's when that happens. We're a
[38:38] government agency, so we unfortunately
have some restrictions um that we're
[38:43] trying our best to accommodate service
for people, but we we do have some
[38:47] restrictions. And one of those is that
we don't have internet access at the
[38:51] lake.
>> Is there any way that we can get that
[38:55] down for three months? It it's it's
going to create what the mayor is
[39:00] saying. It creates both security issues
and audit issues and it and it costs to
[39:06] implement that and monitor it
outweighs the benefit that you're trying
[39:11] to propose and that it it you know as
the mayor said from as a government
[39:15] agency a government function we deal
with these limitations all the time. I
[39:20] mean really what we need to do is to
drive the online registration towards
[39:23] the week and be able to handle the the
inperson as you said.
[39:28] » Yeah.
>> So we understand that there are
[39:31] limitations but these aren't created by
our policy. are created by the
[39:36] constraints we operate under. Okay.
You have a special site where you
[39:43] » taxes and
as mayor said the it may sound somewhat
[39:50] uh really uh specific and almost
burdensome, but it does have a long
[39:56] range impact potentially. And
unfortunately we are dealing with the
[40:00] after effects of that and our
responsibilities of oversight and
[40:07] implementation
will be questioned and that's why we
[40:11] have to have this diligence. It's it's
the world playing blame the lawyers
[40:15] quite frankly. Um well it's unfortunate
that you know like you said you know I
[40:20] felt bad that I wasn't okay
for the day
[40:25] » and I think that people did do that and
and you know
[40:29] » also have goodwill and
>> and I appreciate that very much. Um and
[40:34] and it is good for people to to be able
to do that, but it it it the burrow
[40:39] can't our staff can't be in put in a
position where they're violating a
[40:42] policy that's going to
>> somebody has to be down.
[40:48] » I get it.
>> Well, um thanks for your time.
[40:51] » Okay. Thank you, Sarah.
>> In so far that we have um a concern not
[40:55] having read the um the terms, which I
think is a fair
[41:01] point. Um but we have has people fill
out the terms. Is it possible for
[41:08] members to uh purch and fill out a form
there? Uh so they're agreed to. So if
[41:16] they haven't my concern ultimately at
this point, you know, is that we're
[41:20] going to lose out on revenue um for
people that don't have cash in their
[41:25] check and ready to sign up as a member
on the weekends. um and uh if they get
[41:33] proof that or they get um
a confirmation that they paid. But I
[41:38] understand that uh
>> so when someone purchases a membership
[41:43] online, one of our staff members looks
at the information that they have filled
[41:47] out to make sure that it is complete, to
make sure that it's accurate, to make
[41:52] sure that the amount they've paid
actually matches what they were supposed
[41:55] to pay because, you know, it's a manual
entry and people autocalculate, but
[41:59] maybe they filled in the wrong amount or
maybe they left off, you know, two of
[42:03] their. So it's it's there are step to
verify that it's correct. So that's part
[42:08] of the process that our staff time is
spent doing. And if someone says, "Well,
[42:13] I did it." We don't our the admin system
is not set up to provide a receipt that
[42:18] shows even how much you paid. All it
says is that you paid, but it doesn't
[42:23] also give the information of what you
filled out to make sure that it's
[42:26] correct. So, if someone has purchased
online, our staff in the office who has
[42:31] the secure internet access needs the
time to process it. If if if they don't
[42:36] have cash or a check, they should they
should plan ahead and purchase online on
[42:40] Thursday night and they can get their
tags. But if they decide on Saturday,
[42:45] the only option to them is cash or chat
because that's that is what is
[42:49] available.
>> I think that you have them fill out uh
[42:55] the terms
and to agree to the terms just as day
[42:58] pass would have something fill it out.
Um I think that is a workound.
[43:03] » Well, we've also converted pass
>> we've also converted day pass buyers to
[43:09] full uh memberships. So they can come
for the day and do a day pass. They're
[43:14] going to do the same thing, pay for
their day pass, and then they are
[43:19] on the property under all of the terms
and conditions, and then they can say,
[43:22] I'm going to convert that to a
membership, and they can pay the
[43:25] difference for the membership on Monday
or Tuesday when we're open,
[43:29] » and they get credit
>> and they get credited for the day pass.
[43:32] So, there are there are options that
don't put us in a position of violating.
[43:38] We've that's a process we've been doing
since last year as well and I think the
[43:42] year before.
>> Okay. My understanding of that was that
[43:45] they had to pay the day. So they pay
within
[43:49] » I think if they came the next day and
said I wanted to do a full membership
[43:52] but I didn't have cash
the office could accommodate them. I
[43:57] think these are case by cases that
you're bringing up but we'd have to
[44:00] accommodate a case by case. I don't
think we can jeopardize the security.
[44:05] » I don't question jeopardizing the
security. I was just bringing up that
[44:09] like in terms of
>> um how many instances were there?
[44:15] » I have no idea that uh I'm not able to
help this that people um mispay
[44:24] last year online.
>> Many
[44:28] » there were many
>> and that
[44:31] » we also had a bounce check believe it or
not
[44:34] » this year.
>> Yeah. So, we're being flexible even
[44:36] allowing people to give us a check that
may or may not under cash.
[44:41] » My suspicion is that it will result in
less memberships. Take away all my
[44:48] knowledge online
[44:57] » in a matter of laid out. It's not
instantaneous.
[45:01] » Yeah.
you talk about a really narrow window
[45:05] and the mayor just laid out there's a
credit there's a credit back if that
[45:08] person or group cannot pay the full
price that day they come in Monday or
[45:14] Tuesday and say I was I was dead guest
on Saturday I want to apply that fee to
[45:19] my membership it's economy I mean we're
really again we have competing interest
[45:25] here which is our required oversight and
convenience and and service to the
[45:32] and our living. So, we're balancing all
these things with the same.
[45:36] » Yeah, there's there's quite a few
options that that have been put in place
[45:40] » to to accommodate people and also to
allow our staff because we whenever we
[45:46] manage something an endeavor like this,
we put policies and rules in place and
[45:50] if we don't have our staff adhere to
them, they become meaningless, you know,
[45:55] and and then you get questioned when
there's a negative result.
[46:01] for the entire family.
[46:05] » All right. Any other comments or
questions from the public?
[46:12] » 47.
Uh my family unfortunately was one of
[46:16] the uh one of the families
[46:21] as we go. Um, so I was I was coming to
see what um, you know, what action we
[46:28] may take was just to try to move ahead
for other families or other members in
[46:34] the future.
Um
[46:39] but um yeah, unfortunately that was uh
something we went through
[46:45] in my bought membership
[46:49] water online to be very similar to most
other subs we put on lake bags was fine.
[46:56] It wasn't unfortunately. And uh
just my my my other half's uh emotions
[47:06] got the best of her. Um and yeah, she
you know, understandably she she was
[47:12] trying to figure out why that we were
being denied access to the plate that we
[47:17] members.
[47:21] Um
so unfortunately you know fortunately
[47:24] there was an incident and um you know
after about an hour uh she she did call
[47:30] and apologize staff because obviously
not not something that that's imposed by
[47:37] them obviously there
um but uh we were I think I was
[47:44] surprised to get an email or letter with
a with a formal warning for our family
[47:50] membership based on that
based
[47:58] code of conduct
members. I guess I was just trying to
[48:02] see what which specific
uh code we were in violation.
[48:08] » Um there is a lang well my understanding
of of the incident that occurred as
[48:12] reported by the manager was about
language that was used towards our
[48:16] staff. Um, and there's a line in that
code of conduct that specifically talks
[48:20] about um, mistreatment of staff. Um,
it's it's on the website if you want to
[48:25] review it. U, I think it was also linked
in the in the email that you received.
[48:29] And, and I'll be honest, you're not your
your family's not the only one that
[48:32] received that email. Um, I understand
people being upset when something is not
[48:37] going the way they want, but we again
based on incidents that occurred in
[48:43] prior summers and really came to a head
last summer,
[48:47] we have to have we have had to put a lot
stricter policies in place for the
[48:54] protection of the burrow and this
program. Um, and part of that also is
[48:58] documenting incidents when they occur.
Um, I'm not saying that you or your
[49:03] family or your wife are bad people, but
there are other families who um there is
[49:10] another patron, I'll give you an
example, who last year uh was a big
[49:15] problem and caused a big problem. And we
learned after the very big problem that
[49:20] occurred that oh that lady's been a
problem all year and there's been 17
[49:24] other times when this happened, that
happened and there was no record of it.
[49:27] There was no documentation. There was
also nothing on our part that indicated
[49:31] that we told them, hey, you can't do
this. So the problem there happens when
[49:37] something goes wrong and the burrow
hasn't done its part in making sure that
[49:41] the patrons are aware of what the rules
are. So this is just part of the new
[49:47] policy that we are implementing to
really make sure that this program is
[49:51] protected. So that's the explanation
I'll give regarding the email, but you I
[49:55] mean you're welcome to review the code
of conduct. It's on the website and it's
[49:58] posted at the link.
>> Sure. Um
[50:02] I guess um
[50:10] what's what's I mean what what else is
being on the on the other side? That's a
[50:14] lot. Seems like it's quite a few quite a
few people quite a few incidents and it
[50:18] calls it calls
a cause.
[50:24] Well, no. I think
we're getting we're getting a form of a
[50:28] warning.
>> Yep.
[50:29] » That's not I mean, you know, our our own
actions and behaviors are our problems.
[50:35] What's the reciprocating
action on on here?
[50:39] » So,
>> well, our our burden, we have a burden
[50:41] to our and a responsibility to our
employees. It's a very difficult
[50:45] facility to run as our all recreation
particularly swimbased activities. It's
[50:50] very difficult to hire, train, and
maintain a staff down here. One of the
[50:54] issues we learned about when when
there's really difficult situations
[50:59] » is again as the mayor stated repetitive
behavior. We have an affirmative duty to
[51:03] show that we are taking action even if
it is simple notification. Failure to do
[51:08] so is is really really a failure on our
part to maintain our duty to the to the
[51:15] to the staff. We have a date a duty to
that staff. Um, you know, you're asking
[51:20] what's what's the reciprocal duty here
regarding regarding the borrower. I
[51:25] mean, the borrower spends
other than other than Brian's
[51:29] department, I think the borrower from my
vantage point, the brow spends more
[51:33] time, effort, and money to to try to
solve these problems on a 12-month basis
[51:39] than any other program in the bureau.
Anything, including, you know, trash
[51:43] removal, snow removal, police,
everything. It's it's an ongoing It's a
[51:48] difficult undertaking and it's it's part
of the community that that that and
[51:54] there aren't many left. That's why it's
not a coincidence that that that
[51:58] publicly run municipally managed swim
facilities have disappeared left and
[52:04] right. It it is not a coincidence. It
has to do with liability and cost and
[52:09] and the ability to supervise. Um, but
are you asking and you're asking maybe
[52:14] what are So, I don't know if you heard
the beginning, but we have,
[52:18] » you know, there was already language in
the form that said that passes would not
[52:21] be available for pickup until the next
business day. We have put new messaging
[52:27] right at the top when you first log on
that makes that very clear and bold. Um
[52:33] so that you know we feel it is a
communication uh issue and we are we're
[52:37] going to try better to communicate what
the restrictions are around online
[52:41] purchases versus inerson purchases so
that we don't have this happen again.
[52:45] That's the the best we can try to do
this summer to you know continue to
[52:50] encourage membership but also make it
stay within the uh you know the
[52:54] constraints that we have to operate
under you know.
[52:59] » Yeah. I mean
trust it's not it's not a position that
[53:04] the police is not very fair to put them
in that predicament. Um,
[53:11] I probably better than some people, but
um, it could be like that. Um, but
[53:18] that's not it's not everybody
to have to defend some of that. And
[53:25] I'm just I guess I'll rub you the wrong
way about I understand this formality.
[53:29] That's fine. Um, but outside of a
personal communication, never got any
[53:34] communication like, "Hey, this was an
issue. You're one of the people the
[53:37] family is affected.
This is being addressed.
[53:42] No communication in Africa. Just the
just the formal warning
[53:47] rubbed the wrong way, I guess. Um,
[53:54] I don't I I'm just uh I guess I'm just
trying to I don't I guess because the
[53:59] burrow is closed, there's no
verification of who purchased the
[54:03] membership online and then so you can't
issue the tax. I I mean our our thing
[54:08] was we purchased the membership, here's
our here's purchased it. We just came
[54:13] down with the tax
and refuse.
[54:17] » Yeah. They don't I think what people
bother me is that
[54:20] » so we so we talked about this there's no
there is no internet at the link so they
[54:24] they don't have the ability to confirm
who has purchased online the day of the
[54:28] processing of that happens here in this
office um and so that is why it can only
[54:33] happen during the regular business hours
of this office.
[54:35] » Sure. Sure. I think I think what
probably wrong about it was getting the
[54:40] getting the formal warning. Uh, and you
knew you knew who we were to issue that,
[54:46] but we we didn't know who know we were
under it in order to issue to issue the
[54:50] late.
>> Well, the two things aren't I mean the
[54:56] we've issued the warning because there
was an incident report filed by the
[54:59] manager about the incident that
occurred. So, that is connected to that.
[55:04] members.
>> No, whoever an incident is with, the
[55:08] manager fills out the incident report
with all of the information. We have
[55:11] incident reports for members. We have
instant reports for day pass purchasers,
[55:15] for guests, it it person. So, um, like I
said, you weren't the only email that
[55:21] went out and, uh, you know, the the
issues this weekend were around the
[55:26] people who purchased a membership
Saturday morning and came down to look
[55:29] to their tags and their tags were not
there. But we have had plenty of other
[55:33] people who have been contacted for
incidents at the lake for any number of
[55:39] reasons. And we that contact comes from
an incident report that is filed by the
[55:44] staff.
>> Sorry.
[55:51] » Anyone?
>> Anyone else from the public?
[55:54] » Motion to close the public.
>> Second.
[55:56] » All in favor?
>> I. All right.
[55:59] » Motion to adjurnn. Second.
>> All in favor?
[56:02] » I thank you.