Township Council - Regular Meeting

Order. Opening statement, please.

This meeting is being held in accordance with the provisions of the Open Public Meetings Act. An adequate notice of this meeting has been advertised in the manner prescribed by law. This agenda is complete to the extent known and formal action will be taken. Councilman Nadell?

Here.

Councilwoman O'Donnell? Here. Councilman Rubell?

Here.

Deputy Mayor Fisher? Here. Mayor Leggio?

Here. Is there any fuel to executive session this evening? Yes, there is. Roll call, please. I mean, may I have a motion, please?

Motion.

Second. Councilman Nadel? Yes. Councilwoman O'Donnell? Yes. Councilman Rubel? Yes. Deputy Mayor Fisher? Yes. Mayor Leggio?

Yes.

I hereby reconvene the council meeting of July 14th, 2026. May I have a roll call, please?

Councilman Nadel?

Here.

Councilwoman O'Donnell? Here. Councilman Rubell?

Here.

Deputy Mayor Fischer? Here. Mayor Leggio?

Here. Would everyone please rise for our Pledge of Allegiance? And a moment of prayer.

to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

We have a presentation this evening. Our Township Manager, Mr. Gross, will be recognizing recently retired Howell Township employees. So please come forward if you're here when your name is called.

What a wonderful night it is and what a great opportunity we have here tonight. We're here to celebrate the recent retirement of 11 of our long serving county employees. Each one of them 20 or more years of public service. Thank you.

First Officer Jesse Miller. Second Officer Robert Orzini.

To commemorate their service, the township is going to dedicate an engraved block to each retiree with their name and years of service. And this block is going to be installed on a newly paved area out in front of the town hall. And it will forever be known as the Township of Mallard Walk of Fame. ALL OF OUR REQUIRED EMPLOYEES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS THEY'VE GIVEN TO THE COMMUNITY AND TO THE SERVICE AND TO THE HIGH STANDARDS OF SERVICE THAT WE PROVIDE HERE NOW. SO I WANT TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO THANK ALL 11 OF THOSE THAT ARE HERE TODAY. IN ADDITION TO THE SLOT ISSUE, ... ... ... ... ...

I mistakenly, I put out, I didn't know if this was going to be a group thing, but otherwise I would have put in my announcement of coming here tonight. Congratulations to the other folks. But I put out on social media and I always wanted to say thank you in terms of Powell County. a career in a place where we have the community support. We never had to deal with, you know, civil disobedience and the stuff that police officers throughout our country had to deal with especially over the last few years. So it's an honor and a privilege to have worked here. You know, I leave a lot of unfinished business on the table. It's not the way I envision myself I'm on my two feet. And I would say when you get to a point where you have to worry more about the hallways than you do the highways, that's when you know maybe it's time to move on and look at somewhere else and move on to the next venture as long as you're not living up to your capability or potential. So the fact that I couldn't give you guys more is my regret. But I'm sure you can find me. This will represent probably the last time most of you will see me. But I'm easily accessible. If I could ever do something for any one of you guys,

It's such an honor to work with such a community. Please don't hesitate to reach out.

So from my heart and my family, on behalf of my family, thank you for your love and support and some of the forever friendships that I've made.

Thank you.

What's the law? a new ceremony that we're doing. We're online and looking probably about more than 150 active retirees to lead and participate on and moving forward so that ultimately Walter Payne will represent all of our retired employees. There's so much to look forward to. And we'll continue. So we thank them for their service. And we're pleased you came here tonight. And we're going to look forward to honoring you and others in the future.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, he freaks out if I can get him to get in.

We're ready, right?

Yeah, just letting it all clear.

You think so?

We're right here.

Mm-hmm.

No.

All right, I have two reports from our department officials. Anything, Mr. Gross?

I have two announcements. First is Howe Township will be hosting the Monmouth County Paper Shredding event on Saturday, July 18th at the Memorial Adelphia School, 485 Adelphia Road. The event will start at 9 a.m. and will end at 1 p.m. or until the trucks are full. This event is free for Monmouth County residents only. Proof of residency is required. No businesses will be allowed. There's a limit of 100 pounds to which is the equivalent of four office paper boxes or four large trash bags. Mike, the second announcement is tomorrow night is the rescheduling of our 4th of July and their 250-year celebration. If you recall, it was rescheduled because of the heat that occurred two weeks ago. Unfortunately, we're looking at the possibility of having to reschedule again because for tomorrow is the heat index of between 100 and 110. If that occurs... We will have to reschedule for another day and that's unfortunate but we wanted to let everybody know that that possibility exists so you can plan accordingly. That's all I have. Thank you.

None for me.

On to hearing of citizens of public comment on consent agenda items and general matters. May I have a motion to

open the floor motion to open a public all in favor each person shall first give their name and address to the clerk the council shall be addressed as a collective body not as individual members each person shall have one turn to address the council and comments shall not exceed a total of five minutes speakers shall be notified when their time has run and no extensions shall be permitted

Are they closing the doors?

This is not working. Okay, I'll speak loudly. Good evening, council members and town professionals and my fellow citizens. Larry White, 15 Renway. As to the agenda this evening, I'd like to know about the source of funds for the farm purchase, our 26-227, which I think is a great idea. Just want to know where our share is coming from. Encouraged about O26-16. I commend the council for moving on this. I assume that we have a firm footing in case law with this ordinance and I urge its passage. wanted to know about an update on the housing ordinances that were tabled with no new hearing date or location to date. And finally, I was going to ask about the data center ban ordinance and found out that after I looked at the agenda this afternoon, that it suddenly appeared. So thank you for taking action on that. As someone, oh, I can hear myself now. As someone who was very involved with the warehouse wars in 22-23, we certainly don't need to revisit that with data centers that are 10 times worse than any warehouse that could be built in town. Thank you.

Joe?

Joe Pezonos, Caltech Road. How's everybody doing? I'm going to build off what Larry was saying. All good stuff. So Good evening, everyone. I want to start tonight by sincerely thanking our mayor, council, and professionals for serving as an example, really, that elected officials and residents are on the same team. Ordinance 02616 and now 02618 are direct proof of that. To quickly summarize, O2616 will amend numerous penalty provisions to hold those in violation of ordinances accountable with enforceable per day fines. Rental violations are a frequent topic of discussion at meetings, and in my opinion, this is going in the right direction. I was also very, very pleased to read that 02618 is being introduced tonight amending the township code to prohibit data centers and all zoning districts. The world is rapidly changing and it's extremely important that our code is updated to reflect new definitions. This ordinance accomplishes that and how the community is going to function in the future. I've also been very vocal about forming the ethics board. I was able to sit down and have a meeting today. The conversation was very open and human, and we discuss the pros and cons, discuss other towns in New Jersey that are implementing them. I'm in the process of getting in touch with some of those towns to get a realistic feedback. When all parties in a conversation are solution-based, better solutions can be found and things can get done. Once again, I encourage every resident to make a little time to get involved, come to a meeting, take a few minutes to go over the agenda, ask questions. No one has all the answers, but when everyone has a better understanding of how and why things are done, change is possible, and I think Hal is on the right track. I want to thank you guys for separating us from other towns that are in the area and really trying and showing that we can all be cohesive. It's not going unnoticed. I know government officials don't often get their flowers, but you got hollered at enough, so I wanted to give you guys a good one today. Thank you very much.

David Maggio?

Yeah, my name's David Maggio. I've never been here before, so probably I'll screw everything up. I own a lot on Lakewood Farmerdale Road that taxes went up $2,000 and I need a variance just to build on it. But I went to the tax office and they said that that should be considered non-buildable lot until that gets approved by the town. And the zoning officers, or I think the zoning officers are not here at this time, but the building department told me that it was supposed to be an ordinance change in the township about my septic system needed to be bigger a lot than what it is now. And it was supposed to be a town meeting being held. It was according to what they told me. I don't know if that's true, but I was told that, so I came here tonight because they told me that I needed to ask you about that.

So we answer questions at the end of public comment, sir.

Okay. All right. Well, then that's what my question is. I would need to know whether or not how I go about building something. And if there's a hardship thing that I could apply for it from my daughter to put a house on this property. Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Richard Krug.

Hi, Council.

How are you? It's good to see everybody here healthy. Hi, Sue. Hi, John. I don't have a lot to say, but I'm going to say the same thing over again because I don't see any change happening. I'm pleading with you to use the laws that you already have in place, which are zoning regulations that others put there, probably to you guys, and use that as the tool to stop the illegal assembly use groups in my R3 development. Last night there were 20 cars parked down the street at the new base midrash at 37 Sammy Drive. It's lit up like Broadway. I don't even believe that anybody actually lives there. Because I was up and down that street with dogs all day long. There's no movement in that house. There was no cars in that house. But at 10 o'clock at night is when it started. So... I would like somebody to respond. I'm going to call on the lawyer right here, okay? Because I've been in the system 38 years and I know the construction law and I know what they're allowed to do and I know what they're not allowed to do. And you can enforce the misuse of the property. If they take out permits for construction of this particular place, and they indicate it's a living room and a dining room, and it turns out it's not being used that way, and it's being used as an assembly use group, well, then the first thing under the DCA is they're filing false and misleading statements in the construction permit process. And you can call them on the table. I pleaded with your directors over there that when they review these applications that they put watermark notes on the application. Because when something doesn't look right the way I did them for 30 plus years, I'll put a note on there. Living room, dining room, 18 foot vaulted ceiling with down laying. Not to be used as a place of assembly or worship or any public gathering. I'm going to say it on the speaker again. If a man wants to build a synagogue in his house, he absolutely can. You can build it. You can build it for your immediate family. You want to build a mikveh in your basement? You can. You can build it for your immediate family. But you cannot open it up to the public. And that's where the rubber hits the road. And unfortunately, John Aguilera seems to think that he doesn't see a difference between having a bunch of guys over to pray and a synagogue. Well, the difference is that actually he said his mother likes to say the rosary. So she's home. when that's going on. And she's offering her women, friends, tea and Nabisco crackers and everything else that goes along with a little gathering. Nobody's objecting to that. These are people that are utilizing a facility when the people aren't even home. How do I know that? Because they're not home. I live across the street. And I see them using keyless entry to come in. to the building, and they stay an hour or so, and they leave. And this is going on until midnight. So I'm tired of it, you know? I call the police. They don't really do a hell of a lot. I'm not sure why. I don't know what they're afraid of. They need to ring the doorbell, find out who's there in the building. Maybe they're robbing the goddamn place. I don't know. But somebody needs to make an aggressive step forward and nip it in the bud because all the other ordinances are not necessary. We don't need parking ordinances. We don't need the mandate that says you can't convert a garage into a bedroom, no garage alterations. All you got to do is use the laws that you have in place and hold to the zoning ordinance. You want to put a synagogue across the street here next to Cardsmart? Go ahead. Do it. Knock yourself out. You can slam cars down at 2 o'clock in the morning. I don't care. It's not going to bother me. And my dogs won't hear it either. So that's all I have to say. I'm hoping that we can take the next step forward. Thank you very much.

Joe Riley.

joe riley a jumping bushway mr mayor council members professionals uh good evening um i've addressed the council and written a number of times regarding the building that was erected at 126 darien road back in february everyone i've spoken to regarding this pole barn believe it will not be storing lawn equipment or livestock Within the past month, I met with Mr. Gross, I met with Township Engineer Justin Yost to discuss how and why a structure of this size was permitted on that lot. Granted at face value, the permit application as submitted technically conformed to the ordinance in effect at the time the application was filed. However, I came away from both meetings believing that due to the size of the structure, the size of the lot and the location, that the application would not or should not have been permitted without changes. Unfortunately, that's a moot point and the building stays as it is. Many residents have expressed concerns over the intended use that this building will be used and the impact it will have for that neighborhood. We saw this past Thursday evening when Princeton and Darien Roads were stockpiled with cars double parked as far as the eye could see and dozens of men heading towards that pole barn. I stood on the corner for about 20 minutes and I saw no women going into that facility. I asked one of the gentlemen what's going on. He said, we're having a party. I said, what kind of a party? I was just having a party. And he said, OK, some party. I find it interesting that months after the windows and doors were installed and left bare on that pole barn, that they were covered for Thursday's gathering, and they stay covered as of this morning. Perhaps the building was christened, no pun intended, that evening. It's now up to the township residents to be vigilant once this building starts to function as the owner intended. Seeing firsthand how disruptive future events at this location may cause, it's imperative that the revisions to the four land use ordinances that were initially to be voted on at the May 12, 2026 council meeting be voted on and adopted. ASAP in order to prevent additional buildings such as this one from disrupting day-to-day activities in other neighborhoods of the township. I'm sure there will be pushback from certain residents, but I'm holding off on my comments on any of those restrictions that they may have until that meeting is scheduled. Thank you all for listening, and thank you for your continued efforts on the township's behalf.

Anyone else from the public?

Zachary Doerner, 25 Southport Drive. I was not expecting that news. I did not read the agenda for tonight. I did a few days ago, not today. And so the AI data center ban is happening today. I am so glad. As you guys know probably, I've been speaking at the last, what, three or four council meetings about banning this. So I'm so glad it's up for the vote. And I hope you guys vote in favor of banning it. Anyways. Something came to my attention, that's council meeting and a resident proposed an amazing idea in my opinion. He proposed an Essex Board and he talked about it earlier today. Thanks Joe. I think that is a great idea. It helps trust with our government. And I want to say this, you guys are great. I think you guys are honest and transparent, but I believe an Essex Board in the future could help What's the word? Put trust in our government even more and avoid the bad people becoming elected officials. Neighboring communities like Marlboro and Brick, I believe, already have ethics boards. Howell had an ethics board at one point. Don't know what happened to that. So we did it before. We can do it again. And compared to other towns, I believe we already are a transparent city. That makes it even more transparent. Have the people trust their government. That's a great way of looking at things, in my opinion. And, yeah, thank you for listening, and see you at the next council meeting.

Anyone else from the public? I'm seeing none. I'll make a motion to close public comment.

Motion closed.

Second.

All in favor?

Aye. Aye. Response from public comments?

Yeah, just a couple. Mr. White, the funds for the Lipski Farm will be coming out of our open space fund that taxpayers contribute to. So it'll come from there. And then Mr. Maggio, I could talk to you after the meeting so I can get more details of your situation. Hopefully we can get you resolved.

Katelyn?

I'll speak with Mr. Krug after the meeting, and we're aware of the events that recently occurred at 126 Darien Road. We're looking into them, so they're not going unnoticed. And that's about it for me.

All right.

Liam? So let's... Three and a half years since I got sworn into office. Public safety, quality of life were some of the top things I've been focusing on. And quite frankly, we want to see more results. So I know since Mr. Gross came on, some... reorganization with our enforcement arms in our various departments along with you know some new ordinances and today we're adopting a daily fine ordinance hopefully just to show that that's what we care about now hearing things from residents about filing permit applications that without the intended uses and it seems at face value that it's filing a government form under false pretenses would be a violation of New Jersey statutes that are on the books already. So I would request that, Caitlin, while you're looking into these things, to look into seeing if there's potentially other violations of our ordinances, state laws that could potentially face criminal charges for fraudulently applying on government forms in the building department. This isn't a game. I don't understand what is going on that people think they could do whatever they want. We have a country and a town built on laws, ordinances. follow it. If you don't follow it, myself and the rest of the residents expect full enforcement to come down on these people.

Like Yeah, I just wanted to thank Mr. Gross, Caitlin, and our planning firm, Hired Rule, for working through the weekend on completing the data center ordinance for today. So they were putting in the overtime to get this across to everyone. They did an extensive analysis of ordinances prior to that to make sure it was a non-permitted use first, and that was the last step, and I was glad we were able to get it in for this meeting. So thank you all. Evelyn?

We are at elected officials' comments, correct? Yes. As well as a couple of things. I had met with Manager Grosin and the library a couple of weeks ago concerning the issues at the library. that needed some repair. I spoke to the librarian today, and I'm not sure that we really made any headway yet. So what I would, I'd like to re-collaborate with the librarian so that we're on a clear path for some resolution. I know that you said the roof was going to be repaired because it's still leaking. We still have the broken window, which is leaking down into the wall. And the other thing about the outdoor portion that they would like to do a pavilion of some type so that the outdoor area that's connected to the library via a large fence would have some kind of shade. So if the children want to go out and do reading or some kind of a program, the Friends of the Howe Library, they have book sales. They sell books for 25 cents, 50 cents, used books. And they have managed to, again, garner quite a sum of money through their work. They had $16,000 that they have earned, and they want to spend it on some type of a shade pavilion, if you will, for lack of a better word. But I think that we're under the impression that we might need an engineer to also facilitate something for safety. Now, we do have engineers that work for the town. Are we able to access the engineer through the town, Mr. Gross?

We can, once we know, have an idea of the scope of what's being requested, and I understand what you've indicated, but I think there's more to it. So one of the things, I just sent an email out that, you know, to respond to them, their request for capital expenditure or what needs to be appropriated to get more details so that we can figure out how much money to put aside to actually do the work. That would include the engineering as well.

Okay, so would that mean then if we had, at this point, if we had to put that aside in capital, then these projects are again then set aside until next year, correct?

As of right now, there's no funding for them.

So my point is valid. Nothing could be done this year. There would be nothing that's already been predisposed into capital to alleviate the leaking, broken window.

Well, no, that doesn't apply to everything that we discussed. Right after we met, I immediately met with the Department of Public Works director who indicated to me that they were working and were going to continue to work on the spots. He believes it's not necessarily the roof itself, but it's where the roof meets the wall and a couple of areas. But they are working on that as well. So there were a number of different issues. They also spoke to him about some of the cleanup issues that you pointed out. So I believe, and I will check, I have a meeting with him tomorrow, so I'll check to see what the status of those are. But as far as the improvements are concerned, anything that's not funded, we'll have to wait until we can get it funded.

Correct. But if they're willing to buy the pavilion, then I was hoping that they would be able to utilize the engineer that the township does have, or that there would be somebody within DPW would be able to access their expertise so that they can move ahead on a project that they're already willing to finance.

Well, that was one of the things I also asked for this week was cost estimates. So to the extent that, and I don't know that $16,000, whether that covers the entire nut or not. So we just need those details.

All right, I'll pass along the information as well. Secondly, I think that we can all agree that the past week or so, the storms have been intensive. And we've had massive power outage. And much of it is as a result of trees coming down. And I'd like to thank DPW for immediately being out there, along with residents and their trucks and their snowplows, pushing the broken trees from the roadway to the side of the road so that emergency vehicles could get through that evening. So we have witnessed firsthand, you know, not just one or two trees. I mean, dozens upon dozens upon dozens of trees. I had four trees on my road alone, which is a small segment of Casino Drive. And then driving around, I'm sure you're still seeing some trees that have been pushed aside and hasn't been fully cut up yet, but they're off the roadway. As everyone, I'm sure, is tired of me saying this, we need to do something about these trees that are not trimmed properly and are not taken down properly because although they may look healthy, they have leaves. We can see that after the tree goes down from a windstorm or the excessive rain, the inside of the tree is hollow. It's filled with bugs. We need to actively be concerned with these trees. One tree falling on a car is going to cost far more in loss of life, loss to God forbid, than what it's going to cost us to get down some of these trees. So several years ago, the county had partnered with us and we went around the reservoir. They did the reservoir trees and then on the other side of the road, which is our property, we had done some massive tree cutting, pruning, and sort of removal. You know, you don't necessarily have to take the tree sometimes down to the roots, but if you can take the tree down to five feet, that tree's not gonna topple over on top of your car. At any rate, I really believe that the time is not just past due, it's well past due. We have to actively put money aside to do an extensive tree safety program. And although you're right, it's capital. But in the meantime, I know we have a cherry picker. We have some guys with DPW that are licensed to do some tree trimming. And I believe we still have somebody that can do tree removal. But we really have to get on this. This is only spring. Now, when winter comes, we'll be looking at the same situation. These trees are no less a killer than having drunks on the road. This is a massive problem in this town. Unfortunately, we're so large and we have a lot of trees and that's lovely. But along with the lovely trees come some of the dangerous trees. So I again am requesting that we consider how we can do a safety program with the trees in our town to ensure that everybody can travel safely along the roadway. And it's not just the storm that takes them down. You can have a couple of days of rain and then maybe a couple of days later you have some wind. Once the ground is nice and wet, and locust trees are phenomenal for this, their root system's not that great, down they go. And we all know the trees are pretty well close to the road in most cases. Most cases we have farm roads, and the farm roads, there may not even be a shoulder. You know, the shoulder stripe is right next to the wooded line. So we're in an unfortunate position in that sense that we do have... A huge responsibility, but again, I am requesting that we do something regardless of the capital situation through our own DPW, whatever that we can do until such time as the appropriate amount of money is set aside to ensure some better safety measures. Thank you.

If I can just respond. I completely agree with you in every point. These are all very serious situations and in fact it's not capital monies that are of concern here and in fact we have money set aside in order to do this work. Public Works is doing the work. The fact of the matter is we have so many trees, you may not see the dent that they're making in it. In addition, we've commissioned an engineering firm to actually do an inventory of our trees as well, and that's active and overgrown. So your requests have been acted on, we just don't have the capacity to do the entire town. And in storms like this, the weak spots are going to show up. So we certainly appreciate your effort. We appreciate your support in helping us fund these things. And we will continue to work hard to try to make this right.

I'm pleased to hear it. Again, I couldn't be more dead set on the safety issue of this. And I don't know, if you could just double check. I don't know who can cut the trees down in DPW, but several years ago we had somebody involved with shade tree that they did have a license for the cherry picker to go up and cut. whatever we're doing we just need to do more and i think the last storm could not be any more indicative of life and death than that one so thank you and i'm glad that we're still looking at it but i think we have to look at it a little faster i know that's not what you know that it's very difficult and i'm not saying dp does does not work hard because they sure do but um maybe again we could partner with the county and getting some other stuff done i mean we just have to do more i realize that we always say this but definitely more is better but thank you mr gross um what time will by what time tomorrow will we make that decision for the uh 250th celebration

By 10 I expect to make it by 10AM.

And we'll post it?

Yes.

Okay. Second thing I want to acknowledge a senior center because I know we were using it as a cooling center during those really hot days and the director Melanie Decker just and her staff they do a great job. Probably one of the most popular senior centers in Monmouth County. And lastly I want to back up what Councilman Nadel said before. I feel like that if I filled out an application for a permit with false and misleading statements or information that I'd get in trouble. And I think it's worth legally looking into that side of it, that end of it, because we're all sad about what we're seeing happening to our town. And it's about fairness. It's about quality of life. It's about safety issues. IT'S ABOUT NEIGHBORHOOD AESTHETICS. WE TALKED ABOUT THIS WITH THE GARAGE ORDINANCE. YOU CAN CHANGE IT, BUT YOU HAVE TO KEEP IT WITHIN THE NEIGHBORHOOD AESTHETICS. WE WORK SO HARD TO HAVE SUCH A BEAUTIFUL TOWN. WE WANT TO KEEP IT THAT WAY. SO I APPRECIATE THE PUBLIC RECOGNIZING THE FACT THAT WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER. SO THANK YOU FOR THAT.

Hey, Joe, I appreciate you coming up and saying the town's going in the right direction. Hopefully the direction that will keep everybody calm in our quality of life and our sanity driving through the neighborhoods. Whatever we control, we're trying, folks. Well, Ian already said what he needed to say, and I spoke to him before the meeting in regards to that very point about if you're going to fill out an application, then that's what you're saying the use is going to be, then that should be held to what it says. So maybe we need to add another layer to the application when they fill it out. Maybe it has to get notarized. I don't know. know legal go through this um i could tell you in the past if you fill out an application and you built it and it wasn't used for that usage the town was there code enforcement was there building department was there okay hefty fines court dates and somewhere along the line the last couple years a lot of that has uh disappeared so uh hopefully we're gonna get back on track with that um I can't stress enough to you that I'm a rule follower, and I am disgusted by some of the stuff that I'm seeing in the neighborhoods. And as far as Darien Road, the other night, I got several phone calls in regards to a party. So I went over there. I drove over there myself. And what disgusted me the most And I called one of our liaisons to the community. And he knows if he's watching the meeting who I'm speaking about. And I respectfully said to him, I said, you want to have a gathering, you know, it's your right to have a gathering. I was like, but maybe it'd be smart in the future if you're going to invite 100, 150 cars into the middle of a neighborhood unannounced. You contact PD or maybe have some kind of traffic thing set up for you because you have a right to assemble at your house. You have a right to have a party at your house, right? So what aggravates me the most is when I approached the street from the Darien side, not from the Darien side, from the Newberry side, I could only get down one car at a time. We had to wait for each car to come down from the Darien side, the Newberry side, the Princeton side. And what troubles me is the fact that if their emergency vehicles had to approach that intersection for someone's home, for a fire, heart attack, whatever, folks, Those residents should not have to deal with that nonsense. You want to come to a house like that and a group of people like that, then spread yourself out and walk a couple more blocks. Do not impede on an intersection like that and cause a possible emergency situation to happen for somebody that's not going to be able to get tended to in a timely fashion. It's uncalled for, and it's really, I have zero tolerance for it. And working with PD on this and working with the manager, we're trying, folks, okay? It's just an aggravating thing, and believe me, the conversation I had with the liaison the other night was not pleasant. He was not happy about my tone, and I frankly told him tough shit. So that just wraps up. Mr. Rich, listen, we understand your frustrations. We're working with the attorneys. As far as the ordinance is, it's all in the works. Folks, just relax. Remember, I've been taught something here in the last year and a half. Municipal government is very very very slow okay a lot of stuff in this building just takes time it's frustrating it's aggravating at times but you could ask mr gross and you could ask caitlyn i am up here almost every day of the week okay having discussions probably a lot more than they want to see my big fit my big head okay But we are trying. We all sitting up here are trying, folks. So just keep working with us. The stuff that got accomplished on this agenda tonight was something that was important to a few of us up here and the residents, OK? And whatever teeth is in it, hopefully, moving forward, it'll work. And that's about it. I thought we'd have more people here tonight, but that's good. We had a nice presentation for our employees. It went over well. I wish more would have come. Time constraints. So we're going to close this and we're going to move on to our consent agenda items. Does anyone wish to vote on any consent agenda items separately? No?

Have a motion then? Motion to approve R26-221 through and including R26-232. Second.

Councilman Nadell? Yes. Councilwoman O'Donnell?

Yes.

Councilman Rubell?

Yes.

Deputy Mayor Fischer? Yes. Mayor Leggio?

Yes.

Consent resolutions pass.

All right, on to unfinished business. Warden, it's 0-26-16.

An ordinance amending numerous penalty provisions of the revised general ordinances of the Township of Howell to authorize per day fines for continuing ordinance violations.

Open to the public. Make a motion to open.

I'll make a motion.

Second. All in favor? Aye. No, I meant open to the public. Anybody want to speak on it?

It's the public hearing portion.

All right. All right, so no one from the public. Closed public. Motion to close public. There you go.

Second.

Adoption of ordinance. May I have a motion to adopt?

I'll make a motion to adopt that ordinance.

Second.

Councilman Nadal?

Yes.

Councilwoman O'Donnell? Yes. Councilman Rubell?

Yes.

Deputy Mayor Fischer? Yes. Mayor Leggio?

Yes.

And the ordinance is properly adopted.

And then on to an introduction of ordinance O-2617.

An ordinance authorizing the acquisition of parcel ER8, a permanent drainage easement, affecting Block 169, Lot 1.07, as identified on GPPM, dated March 2000, for Route 33, 1953, Section 7, in the Township of Howell, from the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

I'll make a motion to introduce the ordinance.

Second.

Councilman Nadel? Yes. Councilwoman O'Donnell? Yes. Councilman Rubell?

I'm going to abstain. I spoke with Caitlin before. The New Jersey Department of Transportation is one of my clients from my engineering firm, so it probably doesn't rise to the level of a conflict, but I want to err on the side of caution, so I'm going to abstain.

Deputy Mayor Fisher? Yes. Mayor Leggio?

Yes. For those of you here who are not familiar with this piece, it's a Howell Road heading towards Route 33. We have the Howell Swim Club on the one side of the road. This is a piece of property that's in between the overpass and the Howell Swim Club. It's pretty much a dead piece of property because they eliminated that U-turn over there or access to 33 there. So it's just something for the town to acquire for future use. I think it's a little down the street from where you're talking about. We'll get you a map though and show you.

I think it's a little further down the street than what we were talking about before. This is a drainage easement for on Oakerson Road. I'll have Justin get you a map.

I know we're talking about the other one too. Alright, on to O-2618.

Ordinance of the Township of Howell, County of Monmouth, State of New Jersey amending the Township Code to prohibit data centers in all zoning districts.

Motion to introduce. Second.

Councilman Nadel? Yes. Councilwoman O'Donnell? Yes. Councilman Rubell? Yes. Deputy Mayor Fischer? Yes. Mayor Leggio?

Yes.

And the ordinance is properly introduced.

All right, folks. Our next regular meeting is scheduled for August 18th, 2026. Executive session will begin at 6. Regular session at 7. I want everyone to enjoy their summer. Have another month or so with the weather and hopefully spend time with your families and go out to the beach or whatever you like doing, staying in your backyard and barbecuing and having fun. Everyone please be well and be safe. And seeing no further business, I'd like to adjourn. Motion to adjourn. I can

All in favor?

Aye.