Municipal Council - Special Meeting

Where are you guys?

Meeting of Lawrence Township Council, now kind of order. Welcome everyone. I'm glad to see so many people here. Hopefully I'll have a good conversation today. Let me get into the statement.

May we carry out our work at this meeting in a just, honorable, and sincere manner, always bearing in mind our duties and continuing to keep Lawrence a wonderful community in which to live.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands,

um it was back in uh

August of 2024 when the manager put out an idea that it was going to become a recreation center. And we heard the community responded to that.

We heard you unclear.

And then Councilwoman Farmer, then Mayor Farmer, put together a task force. That started in December 2024. We had a community conversation in May of 2025. And the report was given to us in September of 2025. So since then, we've been sort of, we went through RE-ART, we've done the budget, we've done a few other things, and now we're really focused on this RFP. We really want to get it right. So let me read a little statement just to also set the tone for what this is about. Tonight's special meeting has two primary purposes. Provide members of the public with the final opportunity to share their views regarding the future use of the facility. Because the township intends to solicit proposals through a fair and open process, it is important that terms and conditions of the RFP not be shaped through the participation of individuals or organizations that may ultimately submit proposals, seek to partner with the proposer, or otherwise have an interest in the use of the facility. Allowing prospective users of the facility or their representatives and supporters to participate in drafting or influencing the specific terms of the RFP could create the appearance of favoritism, providing certain parties with an unfair advantage Accordingly, the purpose of tonight's meeting is to receive public input on the facility's overall use and to allow the governing body to discuss publicly the policy considerations that will guide the final preparation of the RFP. The drafting and finalization of the procurement document itself will remain the responsibility of the Township and its professional staff and advisors. The RFP will be made available to the public in the agenda for an upcoming regularly scheduled council meeting. And so with that, I'll address you all quite nicely tonight. So I won't, Mr. Saipan.

I just wanted to make it clear that there'll be no voting, there'll be no decisions made tonight. This is a chance and opportunity. This is a special meeting at which no formal action will be taken. Thank you, Mr. Senator.

I will include two things about a public comment. Section 1022, manner of addressing counsel. This is from our Township Code. A person may address the counsel upon recognition by the chair. A person addressing the counsel shall step up to the microphone, give their name and address in an audible tone of voice, I think were we going to say five minutes for today? That's what we normally allow. Five minutes. Let me start up. The purpose of all the comment periods for members of the public to inform the government Person may address the council upon recognition by chair. Person addressing the council shall write down their name and address on the sign-in sheet, step up to the microphone, give their name and an audible tone of voice for the record, and shall have the right to address the council for five minutes to nine. No person having the floor shall be permitted to enter in any discussion either directly or through a member Council shall be granted by majority of council.

All right.

So with that, who wants to come up first?

Mr. Boreen, welcome. I'm not welcome. Fine. Sir, I'm happy to see you.

I really think, my name is Fred Boreen, junior, 26 Fred Boreen, junior road. Lawrence Township, New Jersey. I signed it already. And since this is a special meeting, I think the five minutes should be waived. I don't intend to go over five minutes. But I really think that since this is a special meeting, that if someone goes over five minutes, I think they should. to be able to do that. This is not the first time that a community center has set idols. The first time it... Let me get my glasses on.

Gentlemen, I really don't get ladies

I really don't get irritated, but I'm irritated tonight simply because every time black folks fight for something in this township and we're successful at it, we've done, everything that we've done has been successful, not only for families, but for Lawrence Township as a whole And you look at the things that we've done in Eggers Cross and that black community, look at the things we've done with the cooperation of other people throughout the town. Not only have we benefited families and their children, but we have benefited Lawrence Township also. We've made Lawrence Township better, a better place. You need to think about that. You know, it bothers me that we're still fighting for a neighborhood center. We're still fighting for it. And we're the ones who made it. This is not the first time the community center has set idle. The first time it was settled because the council, administration, and the community was on the same page. They wanted it to happen. And through the years, the factual evidence of the positive changes it has made on the life and families and their children, the community of Vegas Crossing, and the community of Lawrence Township, What was that little bit of history I want to share with you? During the construction of the neighborhood center, what it was called then, in the early 1970s, the contractor had gotten the cinder blocks up to the second floor level and then stopped work. We were later notified that he had filed for bankruptcy. The center said, as the present center has for the past two years. For many months, with weeds growing all around it, the then manager, Barry Evans, and I traveled to the Hull office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to discuss and explain our situation so that they would release the federal funds necessary to complete the construction of the building. The manager explained how Lawrence Township and Mercy County was working together to complete construction of the center. I give you this little bit of history because then the council administration was working for and with the community, not what's happening in today's college. I guess if you have to live, I guess you have to live in the right neighborhood speak the right English language, or be of the right color before you are recognized. Now we have to have a special meeting to provide the public with the final say. How many times do you want to hear from the public? The governing body has had the task force report for almost a year.

What will the next special meeting be?

I want to say with my five minutes that I am representing unofficially young folks from Lawrence Township. Last night I attended the gentlemen's ball in the city of Trent sponsored by the Urban And I was very surprised to learn when I got there, there were several gentlemen and their escorts from Lawrence High School. Many of the kids you would recognize when they walked into this very room. I'm speaking for them, because I'm the old head. My youth is behind me, but my fire is right in the room. And I joined with my brother Fred Vereen in the disgust and the anger that I feel that I have to come up here and fight with people that I've helped in many instances to elect. And to stand here and know that I have to battle with you to get you to do the right thing. Well, if it takes more control, as the Congressman John Lewis said, then so be it. The delay I just don't understand what the delay is about. Some of you know that I've been involved in government for over 46 years, 20 of it in the county of Mercer. And I understand the RFP process. I didn't run it, but I know what it took. Doesn't take this long. Doesn't take this long. And I don't know what the problem is. There may be some differences of opinion and whatnot. But the process should be more fluid than it is. And I don't understand what the delay is about. We don't have a political battle because everybody on this board is a Democrat. So it's not that it's these versus ours. It's not the garbage that we have going on in that despicable place called Washington, D.C. So I don't understand why we cannot come together as one and get this thing moving. And Fred Vereen, I cannot improve on what he said. It's very clear. It's very clear. Whenever there is an issue on the table, when everything is equal, when everything seems to be on keel, the one issue that seems to always cloud public discussion is the issue of race. And people can deny it, and I cannot be convinced, but race is always on the issue. It's always an issue on the table. And not only is it the neighborhood center, I will go back in history to the, let's read Central Park. And old-time Lawrence people will know that that was not the original name of the park. Central Park was called Eggert's Crossing Park. It was called Eggert's Crossing Park. That's what the name of the park. And the right-minded elected officials decided that carries a connotation that makes people feel uncomfortable. And so they changed the central part. People in the audience that have been here, they know I speak the truth. I speak the truth. And if it's embarrassing, that's tough. You took the oath of office. This goes with the turkey. I want to say also that this is not a, while there are emotions and while We can be animated. I wanted to be clear that this is not a matter of friendship. This is not about friendship. It's about public service. It's about letting officials be responsive to the needs of taxpayers, because none of us are getting a rebate on our property taxes, none of us. Whether our homes are paid or not, we pay our taxes, and this is the body that has been empowered to provide the services that we need, that we demand, that we require. It's about your duty. Tuesday's election showed people in Mercer County that change can take place very quickly. Fred Marine has told that story before. He has told that story before about how change can take place when the governing body is not responsive. So my issue is we have five council people that need to tell us what they think about or what is their plan, what they think about how we're going to change or how we're going to revive or whatever we're going to do with the neighborhood center.

We want to know what you think.

Is that all right if we go over five minutes? Yes. All right, well, my point is that I believe that change is good, especially when you are not, if you're not being heard, you're being heard and you're not being taken seriously. And that's the way I feel now, the latter. That we're not being taken seriously. It's been stated repeatedly. And it's not just, I'm not dropping this exclusively at the doorstep of Frederick. He's not the only one saying the same thing said by people across the county. The council needs to listen to us. And they need to act affirmatively. And I'm not directing this at the manager. We didn't elect a manager. You hired him. I'm talking about the people that we elected. You are a chemical to us. And we want action and we want it now. And we think this process is heavy laden. It's too slow. I'm not sure what's going on with behind the scenes, but this pimple needs to be popped.

Good evening. Welcome to Gretchen BJ 175 Johnson Avenue, Eggers Crossing. I have lived 90% of my life in Eggers Crossing, Eldridge Park, whatever. Eggers Crossing is my home. And I've benefited by it all my life. As a young adult, as a kid, as a teenager. My first job. going to camp, being led by this great group of elders who taught us more than just everyday things. They taught us how to live, how to be good people, how to be strong. That's why I'm standing here right now. Because I have grandchildren, and I want them to go through this life, to be in such a community, to have somewhere to go. That is our safe place. I don't think my granddaughter has ever been inside the community center. For what? So I just wanted to be heard and to say, what next? Because I was at the task force meeting like a year and a half ago. And so I'm wondering, what next? This is something we need. This is something we've been proud of forever. I just need to say one thing. Yeah.

Good evening, everybody. Good evening. Good evening. My name is Tawan Austin Butler, 49 Albemarle Road, Morris, New Jersey. So I'm proud to be Mr. Marine of the Royal Federal Albemarle. Right there adjacent to what it was once Chevrolet, now That is something I admire to have one day. Ms. Carlos ran the center when I was going there as an after school program. Also youth group and stuff like that. So I've been going through the center since preschool.

They ran a preschool program.

My older sister went to preschool there and we've been in the center my entire life as a high school. I remember I graduated Lawrence High School in 2009. So since then, I don't remember anything going on for the youth. So we're talking two years. I believe, I think it's been a longer time that you haven't been serving us. Because my other child was now 14. He's never seen the center, only through Homefront. And Homefront's been doing great work in order for me to give back to my community and feel like I was giving back to my direct community at Eggers Crossing. Talking about first job, first job, my first job of the University of Michigan. So that was my first job of the CIT, counselor in training. To this day, I work in education. That was my first experience. So I just get real passionate about the youth and The OG is standing up for me because I'm here for the ones that's coming under me. So I'm right between them. So I get super passionate. And what I think we should just strongly consider when it comes to anything, when it comes to community center, you start with the youth just like they did.

And there was so much going on for us. And it made me the person I am today and want to continue to give back to the same community according to me. And folks looking like me. You know, and I think more representation needs to be had in that way.

And this was our space to do that. And we welcomed everyone, right?

Like we shunned no one away. You know what I mean?

So I think that's the focus here is to make sure that whatever we decide to do, it has to do with the youth. Like I said, I have a 14-year-old son, never seen the center, never been in one program there for him like it was for me. I went to youth group there when I finally, 10th grade, I had a girlfriend, I brought her to youth group. You know what I mean? That's what happened. That was the space to do it. And I think there needs to be opportunities like that for us to just convene. We see there's team takeovers going on outside right now. And what are we doing to fix that problem and make sure those aren't pouring into our own communities? And the only way to do that is to create programs. and outlets for them. And I would say start with, like, literally don't, a lot of folks do, like, preschool and after-school programs for students up to eighth grade, and you forget about the students who are ninth and twelfth grade, because you think they should get a job. They know, but they board an after-school program. But no, they need, like, structured and tailored activities that guide to their career. And they don't want to learn what they can learn in middle school. We have to literally do career exploration, college prep, trade school, right, stuff like that to help them And so they're not running around your community now being a nuisance, right? So you have to set their life up for success and make it relatable. Students, it's hard to find your career just by sitting in a math class. You have to do things after school to enhance what you learned in school to make it connect to real life experiences. And I think that if you do anything, you must focus on the youth and especially ages ninth grade to senior year in early college, right? Like, because those are the early career folks and those are the folks that we're going to be voting for and cutting your focus one day. So, I think it's, it would be remiss of you not to focus on someone else that could honestly be you one day, you know what I mean? And doing the right thing just like you guys are. So, I think that's just the focus. Focus on the youngins, focus on the youth, focus on people that one day won't be in your seat. And, again, I'm proud of the folks that are out here and, I thank you all.

Thank you. Who wants to come up next? Oh, him.

And I will add my address afterwards.

Worth a Friend, 976 Lewis Road.

It's all about the youth. We heard that as a member of the task force. Every single person comments, we're all about the youth. We've heard that. I just want to say two things. I don't really know what the agenda is because I think most people are saying we'd love to hear with you, your conversation, and would there be opportunity for public comment after if we kind of break and let you have a conversation because we heard that was part of this?

It would be up to council. The agenda right now is that there's public participation and then council would discuss.

And then no more time to come back in. I see. Okay. All right. Then I'll just say, here's my example of youth. Yesterday, it's getting dark, pulling into my driveway, and I see some teenagers. I don't know if they were in high school, but could have been. And they're walking on the sidewalk, and then they hit down my neighbor's driveway, and they're looking around. So I get out of my car and say, guys, are you looking for a lost dog or something?

One of them said, yeah, lost dog.

The other one said, we don't have a lost dog. We're looking for bunnies. We're looking for bunnies. I want to catch a bunny. Don't catch wild bunnies in any way. All that to say we need a place for kids to be. So I would love to be quiet and just hear what you have to say, quite honestly. I'll sign afterwards.

My name is William B. Holmes Salier. And I reside in 47 Baltimore Avenue, Lawrence Township. I'm exasperated and I'm bothered about one thing. I cannot understand why it has taken this particular entity to determine how we're going to go about reopening that building, which was a viable entity at one time and had some dynamic programs coming out of that building. And let's not be confused that it's strictly going to be for Higgins Crossing because that's a building that can be utilized by the entire community. So think about that. Let's get that building back to a usable facility. And also I want to mention too that at one time we had a federal credit union in that building which i started and served as the first president i also want to say that that building was dedicated to douglas dickerson a young man that lost his life in vietnam i don't see any prominent sign outside that building or inside the building that designates that the building is dedicated to Douglas Dickerson. So if nothing, let's get that earmarked again and let it be known. But please don't continue to do nothing about that building because I really want to know what the difficulty is in establishing a community facility. There are other community facilities in other towns and other cities. They didn't seem to have a difficulty in getting a building started. And here we have a building that's already existing. So come on, man. Let's get this thing together so that we don't have to come back here again and ask you specifically, why is it taking so long? Because requests for proposals don't take that long. I put them together myself at one time. So let's not get bogged down in that. So come on. Let's get this thing started and not let it be laying, sitting there, doing nothing. Thank you so much.

Mr. Woolley, I know you've been going up and down the other way, so come on up now. I'll call you.

Thank you.

I'll sit here for a minute.

Yes. That's completely okay. I'd like to speak to Mr. Holmes Sr. I had this child, his son is a student of mine.

I've known him for many years. His son is a fine, fine student and one of the fine young men that I still know today.

And influenced pretty much by his father. William Holmes Sr. said something I thought was really important.

It's not just for one group of people. If everybody has agreed, we know that the people who have been running the recreation department have done a fantastic job. I was a coach for the recreation department. I coached girls softball for a couple of years, and I worked with the Hamnett's soccer league for years. Fourth of July tournaments were a regular thing for us, so I understand the commitment that takes. This is not about community center or recreation center. This is about everybody. This is about collaboration, about us working together. The idea that this center was ever for one group of people is a myth. I have two sons, both of them. at the community center regularly while they were in school. One of them's here tonight. And the other one's out playing games that he learned at the community center as an adult. So this is, the task force got this from the community. The community center needs to be for everybody. We don't ever think we want to exclude any But we can collaborate. We can work together. We can build a stronger community center if we build it with the community, not for the community.

And so I encourage you to think about that moving forward.

And I want to thank Mr. Walts for his comments about including everybody in this. I think that was very pertinent. Also, I'd like to direct everybody's attention to the Gazette. Did you see it? Community Activist receives Martin Luther King Jr. Award. Congratulations, Mr. Vereen. It would be inappropriate for me to designate we receive the grant for books written by the Stanford University's Professor Leron Martin on the childhood, the childhood, which is what we're talking about, of Martin Luther King and how his childhood create the icon that we know as the legendary. Okay, would it be inappropriate for me to provide books for the council? That'd be considered inappropriate.

We have to pay for it.

We have to pay for it. We are donating books to schools, libraries, churches, and groups that I would be very, very Dr. Martin handles all the letters from Dr. Martin Luther King at Stanford University, and he was the keynote speaker at Mr. Vereen's ceremony. Thank you all.

Hi, I'll sign it after. My name is Elizabeth Ferguson, 15 Carson Road. And I'd like to say that I think it is so important that we're thinking about our children and youth. For my day job, I work at the Lawrenceville School and I'm the director of community service. And for many, many years, I drove a bus bringing our students to the community center or students from the community center to our campus. So I'm very familiar in the center that way for my work. I would say also I'm on the board of the Lawrence Township Community Foundation, which helps support the event and give you nice books. And there's often times where we're saying, where can we have our awards celebrations when we are donating to our local nonprofits? I think the community center is a great place for that. But personally, one of the most impactful, I would say, moments for me at the community center was we used to have, and perhaps it was somewhere else this past Thanksgiving, but we'd have an interfaith service. during the week of Thanksgiving. And as a person of faith, and as someone who cares about people of other faiths as well, I think this is a very important time for us to come together as a community to share our gratitude for what we have, the blessings that we have, and for this community. And it's rare that we're able to come together and say we represent the diversity of our community. But often, these faiths these services are really important. And so I just want to say, I was really grateful for the community center to be available for those types of events as well. So as an adult, I look forward to the community center being opened for all people.

Thank you. My name is Jeremy Ryan. I live at 2 Joe Lane. And I just wanted to remind council something that I found particularly potent in the findings from the task force and included in that report.

As you're considering the framing of the RFP, I think one of the things that I've heard everyone talk about tonight is how the state should be supportive of the youth of our township and of the entire community. And that's important.

How do you do that? I think you do that by putting forth an RFP that provides continuous solicitation of input from the community. So it's not just about finding someone who can fulfill the RFP and be the administrator of that facility, but it's finding and calibrating the mechanism of which the community will, in an ongoing fashion, have input into the programming of that facility, and then By doing that, I believe that the administrator will be able to better manage expectations, communicate transparently, and also solicit input for ongoing programming. It's just so important to get it right, not just at launch, but in an ongoing fashion.

So I hope that you'll think about those recommendations as you...

Good evening. Welcome. I'm Gary Mackinoff. I represent Acres Crossing Village Large Nonprofit Housing, Inc. As most of you know, probably all of you know, Large Nonprofit Housing, Inc. has been providing quality, affordable housing here to hundreds and hundreds of families for more than 50 years. Pretty good track record. I wanted to reiterate on behalf of Large Nonprofit Housing, Inc. that they fully support the task force plan and not necessarily with every specific, but with regards to the general concept. And the concept has been stated a lot better than I can state it, in that what they're looking for is a community to have voice in the operation and the programming of the center. It's fully recognized the township owns the property. The township's going to be ultimately in control of the property. What they're looking for is an ongoing voice, as the last gentleman mentioned. Over time, the community can not only have an ongoing voice in suggestions of what could happen there, should happen there, but perhaps even more importantly, the resources that these community groups can bring to the center. And I think one very poignant example, just one, there's a lot more that other folks can come up with, is that over the years, large stockpile of the Housing Game Committee, Every Child Valued, and the public schools and other organizations in the township have run programs for youth now, after-school programs, preschool programs, et cetera. Since the beginning, right before the center was shut down, There was a program for kids in the intermediate school for active school programs. Those kids haven't had that program. And once again, it's not just for the kids in Erickson Crossing. It's for people throughout the township. Everybody recognizes the township facility. It's for everybody in the township. And that through involving those community groups in a meaningful way, that this could be a really revitalized, beautiful center which represents the township in a wonderful way, integrating different parts of the community into the center of different resources. And in the interest of monetary considerations, I think by involving some of these community groups, such as , public school system, the township doesn't have to provide every day, all the time supervision. They can find ways to lease out the property to involve the community groups in the property in a way that will be meaningful and doesn't cost the township more money to have full-time staff at the center. So we support it. I understand the frustration with the folks from the community. It's been a long time. It's been two years since it's closed. And I think there's three orders that everybody can agree upon. I haven't heard any opposition for it. That the center should be repaired. It should be reopened and revitalized. I think everybody's anxious to hear what Township Council has to say about what can be done to help move that in that direction. Thank you. Lisa Austin, 49 Albemarle Road.

I don't know what to say. But first of all, I'm a priority of the community. the neighborhood center. Ever since I was a child starting, I think Mr. Biddle was my first. I still do remember Mr. Biddle. He was the first black Santa Claus I saw. We had Christmas. We had games. I mean, it was a place to come. I mean, I think I was there more than I was at my house. It was such an amazing place, amazing atmosphere. My best friend, we've known each other since, I don't know, three, four, forever. You know, and just looking out, Mr. Marine, my neighbor, Mr. Gandy's, he doesn't know. I was just going to call him O'Brien, his son. All, you know, Chantel, all my neighbors, I see him, you know, and it's Commissioner Woolley with my intermedia. And I hear what people are saying, the inclusivity. I hear that, you know, it's open to everyone and it absolutely is. But we really still have to take a look at where the climate of where this country is with black people. And Lawrence has even, I have a seven-year-old now who attends the same elementary school I went to, Lawrence Elementary, and she comes home, she's very bright, she says, Grandma, I still don't feel, I don't feel celebrated. If I, and I thank God for you, Ms. Woolsey, because you celebrated me in school, but everyone didn't. Everyone wasn't like you. And they're still not like that. I want to make sure that the kids You know, yes, it should be open to everyone, but I don't want it to become whitewashed. I'm sorry. It needs to be for everyone, and we cannot forget the community that started it. We cannot forget the kids who are disenfranchised, even in schools today. And we don't think about it because, you know, I remember sitting on a board meeting one day, and I remember, I won't say her name, but she had blonde hair, blue eyes, and she could not understand for the life of us why we wanted black teachers. Why our kids needed to seek representation? Now, mind you, I went to Lawrence Elementary School all the way to Lawrence High. I am a property of this town. My best friends were black and white. My daughters were actually named after my oldest best friend. So I am truly a, I love diversity. I'm a director of pharmaceutical. My team looks like everyone, and I celebrate them all. No one gets different treatment. But what I'm saying here, we cannot forget there is diversity The kids are being disenfranchised. Thank you for the books, but people don't even want books to be read anymore. I don't want that to be the story here. I hear when people are coming back and saying, oh, we want it for everyone. I know what that means. Take over. And we cannot have that. I do not want these kids to feel unwanted. I don't want it to be a price for everything. When I came in, it was free. I remember Patricia teaching us ballet. She was only a few years older than me. She was a beautiful ballerina. We didn't know anything about it, but she was teaching us this. And this is what we want. We want to use community. And we do need diversity. We do need to show our president that we can all get along. But we just can't forget about, for me, the purpose of the Avis Carleton community.

Sylvia Cocos, 1547 Ohio Avenue. Welcome. Thank you. First of all, I want to thank the Black Community for still fighting to have for that center that they built. And I think it's very important to recognize who built that center. And even though now we're trying to make sure that the center is for everybody, We have to recognize who built it and who created it and who fought for it for all these years. And now they're back fighting. And I think it's very important for the rest of us to join in in the fight. Whether we knew that it existed, like I did not know it existed, but I've been in the township for only 15 years. So I... didn't have to know that it existed since Homefront was in charge of it for so many years. And I wish I knew that it existed, because my daughter could have been there and enjoyed the services, but we didn't know. We just didn't investigate for all the resources. What's important, I think, especially in this climate now, is to make sure that our governing bodies, whether it's the township, county, state, federal, that we run our governing bodies not as a business, but as a resource for people who need a leg up or want to participate in community and I think the community building is very important right now and We don't want all of us to go to our own camp now, especially We need to stick together We need to stick together as a community no matter where we came from and And how we got to this country, or how our ancestry got to this country, we need to stick together. And I think community center would be a perfect place for that. Later this week, we're having a special planning board meeting for master plan. We're meeting in a senior center. If we have community center already open, that would be a perfect place for that. Because master plan is we're going to be building, talking about what we want in this master plan for the next 10 years. And we don't have a place right now like that where community can just meet and discuss these things. We already heard from the senior center folks who belong there, who attend the senior center. They want senior center to be senior center. They don't want basketball, and they don't want all of that. Because we heard that loud and clear here at the public hearings for Township Council, right? So I think it's important to remember that, yes, money is very important in running the township. We have a lot of needs to fulfill in the township. it's great that we're hiring new police officers, new firefighters. I have to say that our police department looks great now, with the diversity, not only gender, but also racial. And it's all important, but it's also important that while it's great to have a wonderful police department, I think to be using that police department only for tickets on Route 1. We need our youth to have places so they don't run after wild buddies. And where they can learn that that's not what you're supposed to do. So please consider in your discussions to keep that as a community center. and have it open to the community and involve us later on in the programs as well. Thank you very much.

All right, we got one over there. You're next over there, all right?

Welcome. I'm not a public speaker, so I'm all the way over here. My name is Tina Johnson, 5711 Town Court South, Lawrenceville. I grew up in Lawrence Township, born and raised. I graduated from Lawrence High. When I got old enough to leave my home, there was no apartments in Lawrence Township, just homes that everybody owned. And then the village came. But by the time we got there, the list was so long that you couldn't get it. So you had to leave out of Lawrence Township. So I thank Mr. Vereen for all the things that he's done to make that Lawrence Neighborhood Village present in Lawrence Township. So thinking of community and what I'm hearing is community versus community center versus Recreation center is very nice. It gives people a place to go, a place to be. But when you talk about community center, that's different. It's a big difference. I did come back after a couple of years and I was able to live in the village. When I got into that village, I went to go get my car fixed one day. somebody came out of there, and they say, hey, hey, how you doing, mom? I'm looking at this, and I'm like, I'm doing okay. It's like, oh, you such and such went right, and I said, no.

But you such and such went right, and they said, I don't know.

They said, but you're from the village, right? I said, yeah. He said, I didn't know you. So that's what makes a community, that wherever you go, you look out for one another. Once they said that to me, I was so, I felt safe. You know, it's like I said, So I'm just trying to express how communities work. They look out for one another as far as are you good, making sure you get everything that you need. And so when I look at a visionary of the new Lawrence, let me just say my childhood with the Lawrence Neighborhood Center was trips with Sylvia at the Lawrence Neighborhood Center. Christmas parties at the neighborhood center with Mr. Benno. And it just goes on and on. And there wasn't just all black children there. There was all races at these parties. And there was all races at the different things that they had there, resources that they had there. So even when I look ahead to see what North's neighborhood center could possibly be now, I see so many resources that can go, that can come out of there. Homefront is a resource that you source out, they can still come in. But the way things are going today, my present job is I work for, I don't know about this, I work for the government, I work for Mercer County Board of the State, I just don't know, I'm not representing them. So I work for a scan board of social services. There's a lot of changes coming down that's going to affect a lot of different people, especially in Medicaid when we're talking about our health. And if each different areas doesn't have a center that they can call upon for resources, the people are not going to know where to go. And you're talking about somebody in your driveway or whatever, you need somewhere for people to get resources from. So that center is in a location where everybody already knows that they have resources there. That's what they're known for. And I still think that that's a place that can be useful for resources, for tutoring like they had before, for everything that they had before just reinstated in that manner. And so yes, I'm interested in knowing what the council has for the building because I am, I understand that you're also buying some, trying to buy some property, the city is trying to buy some property that's right next door to the neighborhood center. So I would be interested in knowing what they're doing.

All right, thanks. So we'll leave it up to Ms. Dickerson.

Good evening. My name is Gail Dickerson. Welcome. I have been a resident of Lawrence Township just about all my life. I was born and raised here. My children, my grandchildren went to school here. My mother, my grandmother, grandfather, they lived in Lawrence Township. My grandmother was a first African-American at some of the schools at the town hall. My mother was first African-American working in a school of special education for children as an aide. My grandfather also was a resident of Lawrence. And he was first African-American special police officer crossing guard, helping the children and making sure they were safe. My mother cared dearly about the children all the time. The children came first, even in our family. It didn't matter what color you were or they were. She always looked after the children because she felt the kids came first. And that's the way it was in our family. The children came first. She made sure they were protected. And my brother went to Lawrence at Eldridge Park, Lawrence Junior High, but he went to Trenton High. And my sister went to Trenton High. I was lucky. I didn't want to go to Trenton High, but I went to Lawrence High. I was a second graduating class, in the second graduating class. My older brother, Douglas R. Dickerson, Lance Corporal was in the Marines where he was, you know, passed away. He got fighting for his country that he loved so dearly. He was only 18. He was a good guy. He never gave my parents any problem. He walked. He ran track. He was supportive. He felt he went into service because his friends went in and he wanted to do the buddy-buddy plan. Most of his friends went in the Army and into the airport. He went into the Marines. He was only 18. He never came back. We never had closure upon that until 30 years later. That's a long time. And I just think about today, what would it be like if he were here today? Because he did love Warren Township. He met a lot of friends. Everybody loved Dougie Fish. He ran track. He was a good guy. And the center was dedicated in memory of Douglas Dickerson, Lance Corporal Dickerson. And he had two nephews that were in the military, Eric Dickerson and Jared Dickerson. Jared spent 10 years. Eric spent nine. And they were thankful. They loved it. And they got out of the service. Derek never came back to New Jersey. Eric, he lived in Atlanta. He came back to New Jersey, but he resides in Atlanta. But he loved it. You know, and my grandmother, you know, they were here to support everyone. I know you knew Louise Underwood, Moses Underwood, okay? And they made the township like they watched over everyone. The children, they see them doing something wrong. They're like, I'm going to tell your mother, you know, you're not supposed to do that, okay? If we did something wrong, they would let us know, you're not supposed to be out here, okay? And we listened to them. Mr. Marine, I lived in a village for 24 years. I raised my children there. I had two children, and he was very supportive. I was happy. I lived with my parents at 24 years old, and then I put in the application to live there. And I got the support, and I moved there, and I liked it. I lived there 24 years. And it was a great area, a great community. The community center was a good place for my kids to go to play basketball. If they had a function, it was right there. The children would be able to be there. Older people, they would be able to be there. And I thought that was a great thing. Mr. Holmes, Mr. Andrews, we all lived there. All the students. We're like family, and that's the way it's supposed to be. It still should be, but the way the world is going today, you don't know who's who. You know who's who, but you don't know. So the community center will be a better place and a good place for people in Lawrence Township, no matter what race, what color of skin, we all got children. We should come together and make it for the betterment of the younger people and the older people that live in Lawrence to help support to have it built. You know, when it first started out, it was just a little building. Then they got together, they made it bigger. And that's what it's supposed to be. You know, to help people in the center, in the community. If everyone could come together, it could be a better place. Thank you.

Thank you Anyone else wanna come up I'll do it

Eric Barash, Mercer County resident since August 1965. Welcome. How does one, well, first of all, how many did K through 12 like I did between 1966 and 1980? And then I came back from Chambersburg with my daughter to make sure she did two through 12, same schools, different grade structure. Then Y2K, can see it you can see everything that was done in this town with all the solar panels going on the schools your taxes were represented then you get to like 2021 to 2026 i thought i was going to live behind the lauren shopping center the grand opening of lidl i interviewed with the ceo from germany because i thought limo was dead and it was um i thought i was going to be at 31 31 princeton pike I thought I was going to be, well, I thought, oh, I thought I was going to be, we were talking about it in 24-25. I remember when that opened down there. I played little league and minor league at those ball fields in 1972 as a 10-year-old. You know, it just, I don't want to blame the pandemic. I don't want to get into any of that. It just seems like when I moved back Easter Passover time of 1998, it was a different town. And then you go through Y2K, and you hit 2021 to 2026, and it just seems like it was a stall. And I was very happy when I was here January 1, because I missed the last one two years earlier, because I didn't know what was going on with my job. They had me in limbo over New Year's. I only got to the bonfire. I didn't get here for the January 1 of 2024. So I'm glad to have you back. I really am. And I read this as something being more of a master plan thing for some reason. Maybe I'm confusing. That's Thursday. That's Thursday? Okay. Yeah. I mean, the last, oh, my goodness. Life's not easy. It never is. But it's good to see everybody stand up like this. And I said it at one of the last meetings when everybody had gotten up and you had made a comment because everybody was leaving early. They only come for what they want. It's people that stay to the end that know what's going on. So I want to thank you.

Welcome. My name is Maxine . I've been here for 55 years from the next month. Well, next week my birthday. This has been a lot for me and my family because we grew up a lot. I learned how to do some modeling there. It kept us out of trouble. You have so many kids right now who are out and about doing different devilish things that we don't even know. Where's your child at? When we were growing up, Everybody's like the secrets and said they knew you got in trouble by your hair. Well, my parents seen her. I seen her and did something. My parents already thought it would be me before I get back. We were a good stop. We were always busy all the time with everything else. And that's the biggest thing with the center. When they shut it down, it's like, what does the kids do? They're just idle. You know what I mean? They're at the park and stuff like that doing little disruptions. It's not as big. You don't see it in, per se, the paper. But we know, you know, you have to have a lot of stuff out there. But you have to keep them busy, that's the biggest thing. The mine has to stay busy for them to grow out. You know, they have a great system out there and everything else, but like I said, we need that center. We definitely do, especially in our communities. Because if you don't, if the mine is idle, it's a devil's playground, you know what I mean? So they can do anything in here just to get it back in order, because the park, the kids still go to that park, which, personally for me, that park I don't like, because it has, that was my granddaughter, my grandson was there, my granddaughter was only four, my grandson was ten. Because of that, um, that tire mess, it gives all that blackness on your hands and everything else they put down. I don't know why that's here, for toxicity or whatever, I don't know. But, you know, we just need another community center and stuff like that, because, again, if we don't go ahead and feed our youth, Lord, we're going to have a VN. I just wanted to say that.

Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening, everybody. David Paul in 94, Baltimore Avenue. Lars Villager. Good evening. You're welcome. Thank you. So we've sat here now and we've heard from the community. Everybody's heard their story. And I just want to implore the council to listen to what everybody said. You've had the facts. You've now did the task force. You have an opportunity to make one of the biggest, biggest changes for the good of this community that we've seen in a long time. And I'm hoping that that's gonna happen. And it would be a shame for this council, this government body to make decisions that aren't going to help the community. And so I just ask you to consider the facts. You listen to what people have said. And you do the right thing. This is all about doing the right thing. That's what you're governed to do. That's what you've taken an oath to do. And I'm hoping that you're going to do that and you're going to make our community proud.

Thank you.

Hello, my name is Michelle Spalding. I'm 94 Altamira Avenue. I just want to make one comment. The community center was started by one group of people because that group of people was forgotten. So that group of people got together to fight for what the community needed. We've been fighting forever and we're still fighting. So please don't forget why we were there, why we started, what we need to do, and what we need right now. We shouldn't have to fight for 50 years to continue to get what we need for our children and for this community. So please hear us. Understand where we're coming from. We don't want to fight. We just want what we need, and we need it now. It should not take this long to do a task force, do an 80-some page project from the task force, have discussion after discussion, community discussions, to figure out what we need and what we want. You know what we need. The whole United Nations is here to talk about what we need. So let's move this thing forward, stop wasting time, and let's get it done.

Anyone else from the public who wishes to speak before I close it out? All right.

Would it be improper to take a brief recess and allow everyone to have a drink of water, use the facilities and everything else? So let's take a five-minute recess, and we'll return at 7.20. All right.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

I hate to break up this community gathering right now.

Well, if we want to go see the next one, we've got to keep going, right? That's right. 830. Oh, now we got it. Now you're putting time. All right. I will now. I just want to start off by saying I really appreciate the candid conversations and comments that have occurred. I hope that you will listen to what we have to say. And I've spoken with my council colleagues and we're going to open up after our discussion to having a brief second public comment area. Just to I think it would be good for after we discuss sort of what we'd like to see for you to say, hey, you completely misheard us, or we'd like to see one extra thing. I think that would be great. I think it has been lost in some of the comments that part of this delay has been because the town The town originally thought that with home front leaving that the recreation department was going to take over and use it as a recreation center. And the pushback and the emails and phone calls and everything else was heard loud and clear. I think Mayor Farmer at the time heard it loud and clear and moved us to a new place. And so we created a marriage task force um in december of 2024 i believe um we've had a community conversation in may of 2025 so it's been a little over a year um and the report came out in september of 2025 so we still have a little ways to go and and since then we've we've been dealing with some things and um fire service other other things in the township sorry we can't to all the things at once. And I understand the frustration with everyone that this building has been closed for quite some time. But we're here today not to delay, not to dismiss what has been said in the past, but to hear you for the final time so that it can inform our conversation tonight and it can inform the RFP so that we can get to the right place. Because as Mr. Spalding said, this is a very important decision that this council has to make. And we want to get it right. And I'm sorry if it's taken longer. But at the same time, it would have been really easy, you know, based on the memo of July 31st, 2024 from Nancy Bergen to Mr. Kowalski. Her timeline was that we would be open in last summer. You know, that we could have, Rhett could have moved in, done a few things, and then sort of rolled out the piece. So it's not about getting it back open quickly. It's about doing the right thing. So I just want to say that. And then the other piece is that tonight we're going to discuss what we want to add sort of into the final RFP, not the sort of nitty gritty that Mr. Sypek and Mr. Nowinski work on that keep us legal, keep us protected as a community, but we're going to talk about sort of the framework, what we like to see in there based on, for me, based on what the task force created. I have a printout of it right here that I want to talk about. And this is about us putting together an RFP to find a nonprofit partner for the center. It's not about rec versus community it's not about that stuff we heard that stuff we've heard that stuff live clear from from the uh the community conversation in may of 2025. so with that i'm going to open it up to my colleagues that have a conversation so i don't know how if you want to start off counseling um because you were you were on the mayor's task force and and maybe go to the miss giglio next because you were on the task force as well um and we could start there and go down

Well, first I want to thank the community for being here this evening. I am a direct result of this community. This is my, I grew up in Edwards Crossing, so this is very, very important, very, you know, it's touched my life. I've lived here in Lawrence Township for over 50 years, and I've seen a tremendous amount of change, and I know what that community's done and did for so many young people, older residents as well. And whereas I do not envision going or revisiting the past, but more so looking to the future and how we can re-envision the future for that center. And again, hearing the comments tonight and the other nights in addition to the task force extensive report. I think it is very important and I'm so delighted to be here with my fellow council members to have this discussion tonight. So I'll stay there.

Thank you.

Ms. Jader.

Okay, I'm very excited to be here today to discuss the final detail of the RFP for the community center. The town council has been engaging with the community over the past year and gathering ideas and public comment for the future of the community center. The administrative staff along the council have been working on drafting the RFP for the center based on many ideas and comments that the public have shared with us. This meeting is another and last chance for the public to weigh in on the future of the center and to share the vision that each community member holds for what the center could be. As the newest council member, I heard many of these comments made in public during council meetings, but I was also on the Community Center Task Force, and I was consistently impressed with the care and passion that each member showed for the future of such a historic and important building in our town. I also served on the Recreation Advisory Committee for the past eight years. The Recreation Committee has heard for all of those years about a need for an indoor facility for expanded recreational programming. Lawrence has and continues to struggle to accommodate the recreational needs of its residents. Lawrence Township does not have an indoor central location for recreational programming, making it difficult to offer year-round recreational programs consistently for children and adults. Lawrence has three dedicated municipal employees who work extremely hard every day to offer programs, activities, town-wide community events, and senior programming, all while not having a facility to hold those programs indoors in case of inclement weather, except for the senior center. Therefore, the town must use a patchwork of outdoor facilities and various school buildings in order to hold all of those recreational programs. I said all of this during the public meeting in May. When I was put on the task force, I initially was in favor of the rec department moving in there and making it a recreational facility. I have since changed that. based on the public comments from here, from the task force, that more comments were needed. It should not have just been, let's move in and move along. And I think that the past two years of comments have been amazing and super important. And now that I'm up here, I really appreciate this meeting as well. This was a big decision that the council and township administrators need to make, but it should not be made in a bubble and without public comment. um this meeting is meant to gather as many voices as possible before council takes the final step this process has been slow but we are working on it and we are listening i respect your honesty thank you very much um i don't have a statement in as much as my opinions on the community center i work in state procurement

So I come at this from a fact-based, unbiased procurement standpoint. And that's where the mayor's task force and tonight has been invaluable in getting it. I mean, I know that it takes a long time. I work in public procurement. I know that it takes a long time and that's unfortunate. But I'm really grateful for tonight because it's actually given me some more perspective and I have additional questions instead of the statement. First, I think it's important to clarify how this process will work because not everybody knows the timeline and what's going to happen. So we put an RFP out to the public to view, for organizations to view online, and they will submit proposals to us based on the guidelines of the RFP. There's going to be a question and answer process after that RFP is put out. So my first question is, are we going to have, like what is the Q&A process going to look like in terms of public input?

In terms of what?

Are we going to, I mean, I know generally the questions from bidders will be procedural, maybe it's something about the history. If there is anything of note that the public may want to weigh in on, are we going to have an opportunity for that to be public?

I mean, I have to be candid with you, and I'll defer to Mr. Seidman with regard to the legal aspects of public bidding and responses to request for proposals. I don't know of a circumstance where in the middle of after receiving proposals, there is an engagement to the public for a question and answer. I don't think that that's something that I've ever seen before, and I don't think it would lead us to run afoul of public bidding law. So I would say to you that there is going to most likely be a committee that will review the proposals based upon the criteria that you set within the proposals. And that's the kind of feedback that will occur in terms of grading what we receive and how it best meets your ideas of what you want to see there. Sure.

Right. And so then that's even long after the Q&A process, right? So how long do we anticipate taking to answer any questions we might get from potential bidders?

There's a period of time where questions could be asked by bidders. They would go to the administration. There would be very specific things, lease terms, things like that. They may want an opportunity to go into the building. So there's going to be a period of time where any prospective organization that may respond to the public request for proposals They want to walk through the facility. So that's a process that I would think has to be at least two months long because these organizations have to meet with their board of directors. There's got to be a thoughtful decision-making process involved before they prepare that proposal for the test to be considered.

Okay. And then once we receive proposals, once our final building date occurs, I know you sort of hinted at this, but just for the public's sake, are they going to have an opportunity to see these proposals? Are we going to share anything with regards to the proposals?

With the public? I don't have an answer to that. I don't think that that's part of that RFP process.

Can I ask a question? Yes. I'm envisioning in my mind how we did the fire study, that sort of RFP process. There was a committee and then we voted similar to something that we've recently done.

That's how RFPs are usually done.

We should expect something similar to that. It was the RFP was put out, the public people did, the committee reviewed the bids, presented to council those bids, narrowed it down to three, and then we voted. Is that too simplified?

That's good for the public to understand that this is really the moment to sort of weigh in, influence council in terms of what the criteria might be, and then from there, we're gonna take it, put together an RFP with your help and guidance, issue it, do the two months, and then have the bids open, and we'll determine who meets the criteria.

There'll be clearly set out in the RFP

when uh question question and answer period if uh as mr whiskey indicated if someone wants to take a tour of the building and i'm sure that will that will probably occur but it'll be clearly set out in the rfp so transparency as to what's happening with regard to any submittals mr kak do you have do you want to say anything as a sort of an opening statement or comment or anything

As being a liaison to recreation, when this first came out, I felt recreation should be over there and they would be able to help the community center to move forward. But over time, with the meetings that you've had and the residents coming out speaking, their concerns and what you're looking for, recreation don't belong there. We've got to see how we've got to handle to get that community center up and running. And yes, it is slow. And then I'll count for 17 years. I have not seen nothing move fast in 17 years. It tells you something, doesn't it? Not yet. Ms. Santos, do you want to add anything?

Sorry, I have a few more questions.

Do we know at this time who will make up the evaluation committee?

No, that's something that you...

Okay. I have two comments for the RFP based on the feedback tonight. I think the programmatic benefit and the facility use plan criteria should be weighted heavier than what is in the draft currently, and I can email you about that separately. And also, is there a way... I mean, I think we can allow for community feedback within the general requirements portion of the RFP, allow, you know, make it a requirement that the contractor has to attend meetings or, you know, accept feedback from the community about its performance, has to attend meetings as requested by

I think it's important that I make this comment. Because if Nancy Bergen is listening to this, she's probably saying, why isn't somebody saying what was originally proposed? So I'm going to say. The idea of placing the recreational offices at that location was made for operational reasons in terms of figuring out a place for public works and finding a place for recreation. And it seemed like it was a good opportunity to do that. But the recreation offices in that center was always supposed to be a hub program. When you were mayor, Mayor Farmer, we had these discussions that it was supposed to always be open to nonprofit organizations to conduct programs that were educational programs, vocational programs, arts and cultural programs, and to have nonprofit organizations use it and other organizations use that to build it. It was just a place for the recreational officers to be located and, from time to time, use the facility during the times that potentially a recreational program could occur. So it was always supposed to be the hub for programming that was based on education, culture, and social programming. The food pantry continuing things like that. So it's really important for everybody to understand this was not a recreation office taking it over and nothing else was going to be there. That was not it. Back in March of 2024, it was very clear in the press release that the intention was to move the offices over there, but this was to be a hub for all the programs that was already there conducted by Homefront and other organizations.

Can I just pause for a second? Yeah. Because a lot of the discussion by the task force was the concern that recreation which was township employee and nonprofit not coexisting in the building at the same time. So that sounds good.

Yeah, you're absolutely right. So this is completely a policy decision. I had my voice. I made a recommendation. You listened to the public. You said, no, we're not going to do recreation offices there. So now we've now shifted that we're looking for a primary nonprofit organization to occupy that, but still have all that other programming there by other organizations as well. So that's the shift that we have, that Recreation's out. They're not going to find the space at the senior center to just locate their offices, not to have youth things there. So now we're operating under the assumption that we want this to be fully occupied by nonprofit organizations to run the types of programming and also to improve in the future to get more of the community to use that building.

It does seem to differ just slightly because this is a point of contention. This is a point of discussion very strongly by the task force that we were never opposed to recreation. We think recreation, and Nancy Bergen has done outstanding work in our community. We never said we did not want recreation should be there with us we just said we want the community to have access to that building as well it wasn't just it was never for us for the task force either or but we were informed by you that we could there was a conflict to have township employees and non-profits operating in the same building correct that's absolutely 100 correct but we discovered that legally that is not an issue. Legally in other municipalities in New Jersey, I don't know throughout the country, but there are examples I think even here in Mercer County where nonprofits and entities of municipalities or governing bodies do exist or have programming together.

Programming at that facility is much different than having home offices of organizations present, working side-by-side or office-to-office with Township employees. It's a dynamic that I did not think was appropriate for our Township employees.

But it wasn't you, Mr. Saipan.

Can you help us?

This is the conversation.

We're having a conversation. Well, I'd love to have Mr. Saipeng weigh in.

The term isn't illegal. That's why I wanted to ask. Whether it's appropriate for our municipal employees to have that dynamic. Thank you. I'm going to jump in.

So Matt, on a task force for a year, it was very clear that the building wanted to be all things for all people, right? That there were people who thought it should be for everyone. There were people, as we heard tonight, that it should be for the community who originally built the building. And the result of the task force ends up being, as you know, very toothless because we were trying to make it for everyone and trying to make it touch everything. I think having shifted it now here towards the nonprofit route with this RFP, we're hopefully getting it at least into a direction that can answer some of those desires that people have said for the last year.

But I just want to go on record that we never said we did not want, and by we, I mean the task force, and I think I hear tonight in the community that it was never that we do not want recreation to be a part of this We do want recreation programs to happen there. I just want to share because that is what the feeling was in the community. So, you know, and that's kind of what we're hearing tonight.

What's going to be the process when you guys are having the conversation you're having

the public can actually comment while you're speaking on on topics how are you going to handle that or is there a way my thought was that there would be comments afterwards so that council could have a conversation and then the community could could just say whether you i don't know where you made your hands

this yes right we can't have members of the community commenting when you guys are trying to craft the RFP because it will ultimately create the perception of favoritism in the public bidding process should somebody should an organization be unsuccessful in the proposal right not get it they could have a claim that you were all influenced by by what was said there, and that was what was incorporated into the RFP document.

This is not a normal situation. This is not something that happens all the time. This is us trying to be open.

And so order, order, order.

Order, please. Sorry for being rude, but this is... No, no, no, no.

You guys are there. Thank you.

You know what? You have to allow us to have an opportunity to have a discussion. It took a while for us to get to this point where the five of us can be together and have an open discussion about this topic. We've incorporated in our agenda an opportunity for you to comment after we've had an opportunity to have our discussion. So as Mayor Bobbitt has said, we're trying to be transparent. We're trying to allow you to see what the discussion and the conversation is. So if you could be respectful of that process, we don't get to do this often.

I will add that I know some people are upset about the way this conversation is going and the way this meeting is going tonight. But I can state very clearly that the opposite could have been We could have just come up with an RFP on our own with no conversation without this meeting tonight. We could have voted on it as a resolution at our next meeting. No public comment needed. We could have said whatever you wanted, but that RFP would have been in the agenda, unmodifiable, done and dusted. This is our attempt to hear you one last time. And I appreciate all the comments. Now some, I heard a little tut-tutting from the audience about whether this was for the Eggers Crossing community. I heard about that this is always about race. Now let's be clear about that, right? I hear that. I understand it. I understand the legacy and the history of this community center and what it means to those who grew up in Eggers Crossing and the impact it had on their lives, the transformational impact, a lifelong legacy. Right? I heard someone, friends for nearly 50 years. That's incredible. That is community. That's amazing. We're trying to figure out what the next step is. And to sort of have people yell from the audience while we're trying to have a conversation, it's just, it's disappointing, honestly, because we're trying to do the right thing by all of you. And by the whole community. And you can shake your head, Mr. Holmes. But I don't know any other way to figure out this very tricky situation we're in, right? It's tricky if you think about 33,000 people in this community, from Warren Square Village to Eggers Crossing, from Pretty Brook down to Spruce Street, right? We're a big, diverse community of 33,000 people. And I'll tell you, I'll just, Here, I'm going to try to reset myself and hopefully reset this meeting by reading the mission recommendation from the task force, the mission statement recommendations from the task force, and the vision statement from the task force.

This is what the mayor's task force came up with.

Now, if you have a problem with what the task force brought, then you've got a problem with the whole process at this point. We're way too young to hem and haw about what the task force came up with. So let me read it. Mission, vision, recommendation. We recommend that whenever... Whatever governing body council determines to govern the center, create a mission-to-vision statement that encompasses the feedback included in this report, mission statement recommendation. The Lawrence Township Community Center is a vibrant, inclusive hub where all residents, all residents are empowered to connect, thrive, and grow. Rooted in the legacy of serving socio-economically disadvantaged communities, the center fosters programs, and services. By encouraging mutual support, collaboration, and shared purpose, we aim to enrich lives and build a stronger, more connected Lawrence Township. Vision statement recommendation. The Lawrence Township Community Center will be a welcoming community governance center that unites residents of all ages, backgrounds, and neighborhoods across Lawrence Township. Through dynamic programs, shared stories, collaborative leadership, the center will be a cornerstone of civic engagement, cultural celebration, lifelong learning, and make sure we can flourish. That's what we're trying to work towards here. That's what the five of us up here with the manager and Mr. Sypek are trying to do. And we're trying to do it in a legal and respectful way. And Mr. Sypek, I heard you talking with, if I'm overstepping, let me know right now so I don't get us into trouble. But that's where we are right now. I'm sorry. We're trying to do the right thing for this community. We really are.

It's a challenge, right?

It's a challenge.

Mayor, can I say something? I'm going to defer to the attorney on this, whether you can speak now or not.

Well, it's up to counsel if anyone else wants to comment. I think this is really a good time. All right. Mr. Ray, come on up to the desk.

I think it's important I say something at this point because The center has always been open to Lawrence Township residents.

We've never said that it was just for Eggers Crossing.

We've always worked that center as a community building for all of Lawrence Township. And that's the way we want it to be. It's in the minds of folks outside of Eggers Crossing that it was a black thing, that it was an Eggers Crossing facility. It wasn't our thing. It was the people on the outside who came up with this mentality, not us. We've always been open to large township residents, and we've always served them. And I think that's, you know, I don't like to hear People say that it's an Eggerscrossing thing. That's not from us. That's from folks from outside of Eggerscrossing. Can I make one other comment, please?

I'll defer to Council on this one. Come on, Mr. Holmes. All right. To the Sovereignty Council and respectful members of the Council, I'm going to say one more thing. The things that you're talking about putting in RFP were things that were done without an RFP years ago. We had two former directors of that building sitting in this room tonight who were able to facilitate those kind of programs that you're talking about years ago with no exclusion from anybody. You said I was shaking my head? Yes, I was shaking my head out of frustration. Because I think you're doing things that you don't have to do. These things were done without a nonprofit individual or organization before. These programs were done without anybody other than the executive director and a board of trustees to see that the building was operated in the proper manner. So I don't know what you're talking about. putting all this stuff in the IRFP. You don't have to do it.

Well, I would respectfully say that, as I saw in the task force report from the 1980s when federal funding was minimized over, and thank you for your comments, but I will say that part of the change in the community center over time has been the taking away of federal funding from Johnson's great society programs. And during the 18 years of the age, you well know that the community center suffered, had problems, right? That there were issues about who owned the building, who ran the building, how spending was out of whack with what the funding was, that the county wasn't passing through any more money. And then again, later on, just before Homefront, same thing, we were over, we couldn't basically continue to do what we were doing. We were spending too much money for what the services were provided And so we used our community block grant money and partnered with Homefront at the time. And so then we got to a place where Homefront, through their funding, and Mr. Malinowski, correct me if I'm wrong, but their funding sources wanted to know what communities they were serving and why they were in Lawrence. And they were serving more people outside of Lawrence than in Lawrence. And so that precipitated a shift where we were thinking recreation, And now we're thinking, how do we partner with another nonprofit to get there? Because the money, as we all know with the Trump administration, they are clawing back money left and right from the federal government, right? And so the times of the 1970s and 80s are not coming back in terms of federal funding to support these things. And so we're going to look for partnerships with a nonprofit, look for synergies with others, but that's the reality right now. And that's why I say it's important It's a difficult thing because I understand the historic, the legacy of the center, the community of the center. Mr. Green has sent me multiple emails, and I've dug into it even deeper. He even knows about all those newsletters that came out in the 70s, all the amazing things that happened at the center, the federal credit union, the trips to Washington, D.C., all those things.

i just want to put on the record that with regard to the legality of an rfp and what we're doing tonight the the legislature law, which isn't what we're doing tonight.

What we're doing in the RFP is a blend of satisfying those two statutes. So we have no choice but to follow the law. And that's what we're trying to do, not only tonight, but what we've been trying to do in putting together the RFP. property, not just Lawrence Township. I think that over 500 municipalities in the state of New Jersey have thought of those laws.

Thank you. Anything else you want to add?

Just a touch on the funding and the response. Mr. Nowinski, if you could speak to the responsibility of the township with regards to the building itself, improvements that need to be made. I know that we reached out to an architectural firm who gave us recommendations. So going forward in this process, responsibilities of those things. Could you speak to that?

OK. So we recently received a $500,000 grant from Representative Conway. And that money will be utilized, we're already in the process of the design phase for making the building ADA accessible in the front part, right? To make sure that all individuals can access the building from the front. This building is almost 50 years old. Individuals with disabilities at times have to go through the back of the building to gain access. Unacceptable. So we've also, in our budget a couple years ago, encumbered $1 million for the improvements inside. When this RFP process is taking place and organizations are responding, that's going to be a part of the dialogue on what they would be willing to do or wanting to do inside that building for their programming and what we'll be able to do to make sure that that building is maximized in the shape that it should be and deserving of the people that use it. So we're completely invested in the fact that this is a township-owned building that requires major renovations. And we're committed to do that. But it's going to have to work hand-in-hand for the interior with whoever you all select as the successful bidder. Does that answer your question?

yes it does okay another additional question i guess this will be um for the council as well with regards to i know we will need a committee to um vote on the rfp or to have discussions to present to council do you have any recommendations on what that committee should be comprised of when you say committee you're talking about reviewing proposals right um i mean i'll defer to mr seipic with regard to that this is

We have committees, internal committees that review RFPs. We can certainly have that discussion of who is going to be a part of that review process.

I would say my initial thought is, and maybe there might be some conflict if people want to be involved, but I was thinking we would probably want to keep it at two, correct? So that we don't have to have Two council members. Sorry, two council members. So I think two council members and then a hybrid with probably you two as well as maybe some other municipalities. I was just hoping that there would be some council members as well. Anyone else want to go? I have a question. Would it be possible to add the, because I don't think it's in there right now for the RFP, would it be possible to add the mayor's task force into it just to give some flavor into what the community is looking at so they can understand sort of?

I think it would be valuable for bidders to have that.

All right, so this RFP was prepared to embrace yeah the mayor's task force yes right as much as possible um to include that could present and i'll defer this just like that with regard to this if we specifically reference the mayor's task force recommendations there are members of that task force that have used the building in the past and may want to use the building in the future And for me, as an attorney looking at that, we could run a public bidding. So I would say that we could take what you all agreed to be the best aspects of the Mayor's Task Force that you would want to put in there without expressly representing verbatim what the Mayor's Task Force is. You know what I'm saying?

Yeah, I mean, sort of like what I just said out loud about the sort of vision of it being inclusive.

and you know ABC we do problem mode but making it available as an attachment so if they wanted to they could be linked provide a link to just keep that I would say any any organization that is going to take the time and effort to make a response to this proposal will access all the documents they feel

IS NECESSARY TO MAKE THEIR PROPOSAL AS STRONG AS POSSIBLE WITHOUT US TYING IT IN WITH THE MAYOR'S TASK FORCE.

NEW SPEAKER THANK YOU. FINAL THOUGHTS BEFORE I OPEN IT UP.

NEW SPEAKER I'M JUST GOING BACK TO TIMELINE BECAUSE THAT IS AN ISSUE THAT THE COMMUNITY and some of us on council who are just you know ready for the next step just to give a what the thoughts are so i would our next council our next council meeting is the 16th correct so yeah so listen the whole point of this special meeting

was to have this discussion in here so the document that will be released to the public with the agenda, because it's going to be an action item to be voted on, will have the best opportunity for you all to vote yes or no, but yes. That gets us going.

And so with two months, that would put us around. In August, they'd receive them back, and then probably the next meeting in

the third Tuesday in September, we should be good to go. Does that sound good? Yeah. We won't have any hiccups, but like best case scenario, just so the public has an idea of what this might look like. Yeah.

Okay.

For the improvements and renovations to the building, such as the frontage for ABA, will we be bidding that out as well? That one.

Well, I mean, there are state contracts, state contracts, state, all the state contracts that may not have to, may not have to get that out. But there will be a recommendation from our municipal engineer whether to get out. Certainly not being done in-house. So there'll be some contracting.

All right.

We good?

All right, we're going to open it up for public comment.

I'm going to keep it to two minutes on this one, but just for three minutes.

Mayor, I would ask that there not be repetitive comments.

Yes, I agree.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to say I feel a little better than I did when I first came in here.

Anyone else? Mr. Backknock.

I'm still going to be watching you.

Oh, I know about that. Now, you can't say the same thing. You can't be repetitive and say the same thing.

I'm just going to congratulate the board and the people in the audience. I think this has been a very impressive process. I think it's the council that's listened to the community. i haven't seen any real contrary or opposite you know opposition to any of the ideas that are coming up so i'm i'm feeling very good about there's going to be good products to come out one quick question for council maybe it's just to employ bidders on this i can represent non-profits that are active in the area including the large nonprofit housing inc is there plans and assessments done give these non-profits a better idea as to what needs to be done in the building.

So we want the organizations to be fully aware of what's involved, and we're going to share all of that. Like we had the building assessed, evaluated in terms of what we think needs to be done, or what we know needs to be done, and a value part of that. That is going to be provided to the bidders, to the diagrams of the floors. That's all that we've provided. We're going to open it up to the bidders on certain days to go through it together so they know what's going on as well. Great. Sounds like the process is moving forward.

Yeah.

Anyone else? Well, thank you. I know this has been a challenge. We're trying our best. So, Mayor, may I? Sure, go ahead.

All right, but I don't want to make sure that I continue to hear the feedback, Art and I, with regard to the document that you've been provided, the changes that you want to have, send it individually to Art and I, because we don't want to run afoul of you all violating the Open Public Meeting Act. And then hopefully the document that we have that's going to be on the agenda is going to reflect all that you think is important. Because I know, I think you indicated the criteria. Let's hear that sooner rather than later internally, because it's just an adjustment of percentages that we're going to weight each category. And just publicly, I would just want to say that this RFP, the basis of it is to provide We want organizations that provide community-focused programming and services. We want the bidder, the organization, to be open to working with other nonprofit organizations. We want them to be open to allowing the full use of this facility day and night for programs for the arts, culture, vocational, child education, teen, education adult education it's the whole the whole thing that the mayor's task force envisioned that's what we want to put in this document we want the organizations to embrace that and they're going to have to tell us that's our plan too and one last thing just a housekeeping item um our township the clerk states that chain you know changes to the agenda should come to them by

by noon on Wednesday. Can we push that to Thursday, possibly, if we're still getting? Don't do that to Nicole. So I'll say this. If you can, start talking with Kevin now, before Wednesday, at the very latest, so that we can go through the process and get something so the clerk's office isn't scrambling and putting together books for next week.

It'll be done on Wednesday. Wednesdays when we do the books.

Mayor, I have one public comment or question. Come on up, Mr. Spalding.

Come on down.

Thank you. I appreciate it. I have a question. After listening to Mr. Nowinski, I want to make sure. The next meeting, you're going to do a resolution to approve for the RFP to go out. That's the plan. That's the process, right? That would be it. So that next meeting is going to be when again?

Next Tuesday.

That's a short amount of time. Well, the document's done.

We're going to do it.

We're going to do it. So it's just going to be the resolution. The document's not going to be ready to go out for other bidders. No, no, the document.

We have a draft document that we've all been looking at and it's been reviewed.

I'll be clear. The notice of bidders... Is it going to go out? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, Mr. Perkins, my guy.

All right, with that, I have a motion to adjourn. Motion to adjourn. Second. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, so we're going to do the questions.

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