Township Council - Regular Meeting

responders who protect our neighborhoods. Mr Mayor. Yeah, I'd also like that. Uh, the community lost, uh, uh, last meeting Alan Hampton, who had lived in Rockaway Township and right Middle Lake 55 years. Um, he was a planning board attorney for over 10 years and he served in various, uh, volunteer type capacity positions within the township. He's also our health director, Peter Tavits, stepfather. So, um, he, we lost him since last meeting. So I'm on that.

And if I could just, yeah, and also, Mayor, Mrs. Hantman, Phyllis was our planning administrator, who also was a very wonderful component to Rockaway Town Preservation of our planning and zoning and helping applicants as well as the townships and attorneys on their applications too. Thank you.

Clerk, please take the roll.

Council Member Salberg.

Here.

Council Member Wojtowicz.

Here.

Council Member Freelander.

Here.

Council Member Royick. Here. Council Member Freyday. Here. Council Member Quinn.

Here.

Council Member Kelly.

Here.

Council Vice President Sackett.

Here.

Council President Morrison.

Here. Adequate notice of this meeting was provided to the Daily Record and the official newspapers for the Township of Rockaway. Notice was posted on the official bulletin boards of Rockaway Township, the Township website, and notice was filed in the office of the Township Clerk. Approval of the minutes for the July 14th Township Council meeting. Can I have a motion? So moved.

Second.

Clerk, please take the roll.

Council Member Sauber.

Yes.

Council Member Vojtovich? Yes. Council Member Freelander?

Yes.

Council Member Royick? Yes. Council Member Quinn? Yes. Council Member Kelly?

No.

Council Vice President Sackett?

Yes.

Council President Morrison?

Yes. Seven yeses, one no motion carries. Mr. Morrison, just one quick request.

Could you please provide the reason to the public involved myself? why we canceled the August 11th, uh, 2026 and August 25th council meeting.

Uh, we didn't cancel the August 11th. We postponed it to today for scheduling complex. And we're canceling the August 25th meeting for what reason? Been on the agenda for over a month now. What's the reason for the cancellation? Mr. Kelly, it's irrelevant. Thank you. Before opening the public portion of the meeting, I want to remind everyone of the rules that apply to anyone who wants to address the council. Any member of the public wishing to address the council will have three minutes to do so. While an extension of time may be requested, it should not be assumed that an extension of time will be granted. While addressing the council, members of the public may not address or question any individual council member. If anyone addressing the council violates these rules or conducts themselves inappropriately, their speaking opportunity will be terminated and they will be instructed to return to their seat. A refusal to comply will result in removal from the room. Members of the public in attendance may not make comments from the audience without recognition by the chair. Persons doing so will be subject to removal from the room. As council president, I have tremendous respect for my fellow council members and the public take time and effort to attend council meetings. These rules are necessary to protect and respect, but also to permit the council to do its business in an orderly and professional manner. When I call your name, please approach the microphone, state your name and address for the record, and you will have three minutes. Dan Trillo.

Dan Trello, 53 Megan's Road. I just want to bring to your attention, back in February, my daughter was on Green Pond Road, stopped behind a school bus, waiting for kids to get on or off. She was then rear-ended by another school bus. She was eight months pregnant. My granddaughter was on the car, excuse me. She was one and a half, and told her car. The driver of the bus was 81 years old. I wasn't given a ticket, nothing. So everybody's telling me, sue, sue, sue, sue. But we have insurance. We assume Rockaway has insurance. And so things were filed. So they submitted it to Rockaway. Rockaway refused it because they said they haven't used it because of a public entity. So now my daughter had to, she was okay. Nobody got hurt. She was okay. now she has to pay 500 deductible just pay the rental fee for the car out of her pocket and she also has to pay she paid 2500 to get into a new car if we would have contacted a lawyer it would have probably been another three grand so we're sitting legally doing something right getting rear-ended toiling her car she's out a couple grand and rockaway we've contacted them twice, and both times they just said the immunity thing takes precedence. So just wanted you guys to know that. I think it's kind of sad that, you know, you're a resident, you pay taxes. She lives here. She bought a home here. I've lived here since 92, and it's just sad that this has to happen. So I just want to get my point across.

Just to clarify, is that a, I'm sorry, I don't know if you answered that now. Is that a town or is that a Board of Ed?

But we tried to work with that, so I just figured I'd come here like you guys know.

Okay.

I know nothing's going to happen. No, I just wanted to bring it because I think it's a silly law. Okay. Somebody that did nothing to get put out of pocket like that.

Council President, would it be too much if we were to ask maybe administration that maybe could guide him with contacts to the school in order to assist?

I think that it's not a council matter, and I think the gentleman's already addressed that. Gina Fico?

Gina Fico to you, please. I wanted to start off by saying a few days ago, I had a reminder of just how amazing Rockaway Township is when it comes to crime. I was driving through, not planning, on a really rough neighborhood in New Jersey and feeling really anxious and just hoping that I would make it home safe. And it just made me think about how fortunate, living here almost 30 years, I am to be able to live in such a safe community. However, we know that no town is completely immune from crime and from some really horrible occurrences happening. That's why I stand today before the council to support flock cameras. I know this has been a matter that's been up for debate in many councils across New Jersey, and I definitely see people's concerns about privacy. However, after doing my research, I feel that the pros... outweigh the cons this is amazing technology that has assisted with technology which we all know can be very useful to help police officers solve crimes faster to help locate missing people and you know people that are in these vehicles that are up to no good in the area while privacy remains a concern i think that we need to really look and educate the public on those so You know, I understand people are concerned. Maybe we can like hold an info session. You know, I am a big believer in that to educate people on flaw cameras, but I just wanted to share a few statistics that I came across. They assisted in over a million criminal incidents and investigations, and they helped locate 10,000 people approximately a year. So that's about 27 per day. They help with efficiency. You all know that human error is a thing. So what these technologies do is allow to kind of work through the cracks of what people might miss. And they also help us determine if people see these big cameras, they're less likely, you know, to do something really bad in the area. So I just wanted to, you know, bring that up today. I'm not trying to change anybody's mind or say that this is, you know, the best idea ever. There's definitely, you know, situations we have to look into. But when it's all set and done, there's a lot of benefits. And I just want you to think about what we can do to keep this town amazing and safe for more time to come. Thank you. Thank you.

Gary Del Greco.

Hi, my name is Gary Del Greco, 18, Edith Drive. I'm here tonight just to inform everybody of Red, White, and Blue. This will be our 29th year to honor first responders. I know many of you have attended, so. And I hardly get time to talk to any of these because I'm running back and forth where it's going on. But this year it's September 20th and you're all welcome to attend that Faith Family Fellowship. And it's just that we honor all the responders. We give them a breakfast. The special speaker this year is Dan. sunshine which is his real name that's what he called me but he's a retired police officer from new jersey he lives in tennessee now he'll come up he'll be our guest speaker and we'll have a luncheon afterwards which is supplied by all the restaurants around this area they give us their main dish that they're noted for and then we we have a fellowship hall with you know you come you eat and we give a gift to all the responders so just Telling you to please come if you can.

What time is it?

It starts at nine with breakfast. It goes through to whenever everybody goes.

Okay. I'm surprised. Gary's wife, Judy, run this for years. I've been to many of them and it's really inspirational how they recognize, you know, EMS, fire, police, everybody. And I think the first responders that attend are very appreciative of what you do. So thank you. Thanks, Mr. DeBrecco.

Dana Tabadella.

With the meeting being canceled next week, I was wondering if I can get an extra minute possibly.

No, everybody's at three minutes.

Dana Tabadella, 31 Omaha Avenue. I would like to know what is the revenue for Rockaway Township has received for the cannabis businesses operating in the township. When these dispensaries were discussed, one of the primary benefits presented to the public was additional tax revenue. I'd like to know what the tax revenue has been collected from the township. amount that was collected current year to date where the revenue appears in the municipal budget is this money dedicated for a purpose how is this money benefiting the rockaway township taxpayers and residents has any of this information been made available for the public and where can i find it my second concern involves the language used in the township council meeting minutes meeting minutes are official government records they should objectively document the actions taken the subjects discussed and significant events that occurred they should not include subjective descriptions of persons attitudes emotions or behavior for example i saw a language in the township minutes stating that the exchange became contentious That's an interpretation that this is not a soap opera. It does not tell the public what was actually said or objectively occurred. One person might consider this the discussion contentious, while another person may view it as a legitimate disagreement. I've also seen the council refused to correct minutes If the correction has not been sent in advance, I'm asking that you review for future minutes to ensure that these minutes become factual, impartial and consistent. I'm also asking that the existing minutes that contain subjective characterization be reviewed and amended correctly through the formal process. Lastly, I'd like to address what occurred when a young person in our community recently came before this council to give a presentation. She took responsibility seriously. I understand prior to the meeting, she made two trips to town hall to test everything in advance. She brought her own laptop. She purchased a special cable so she could connect to the township's audio visual system and project her presentation for the screen for the council and the public to see. during these tests everything worked properly but the night of the presentation it did not the township clerk made no effort to assist her and she was left to scramble mr morrison did eventually try to help thank you if you review the archive footage some of the other council members can be seen laughing and joking behind her i'm not saying that the council members were speaking about her but imagine her stress while hearing you guys laughing eventually an unknown member of the audience fixed the problem which he deserves much credit i do understand that technology can fail the issue is that when it failed the township clerk should have made a reasonable effort to help whether by checking the connection contacting someone who could assist to help identify another way for the presentation to be displayed from memory during the budget meeting i believe we pay someone extra for these meetings to help with our equipment Again, the township and its officials have a responsibility to make reasonable efforts to ensure members of the public can participate meaningfully in public meetings. That responsibility is important.

Aaron to court. Yeah.

If I could just respond to that tax revenue for the cannabis quickly. Okay. I don't have the exact revenue that we collected in 2025. However, we do anticipate that revenue in the 2026 budget is included in the revenue portion of the budget. I can come back to you with figures at the next meeting. That money that comes in goes into the general fund to help offset taxes. That's its sole purpose. Okay. thank you right that's that's the revenue we're speaking right like two percent so it's a rateable plus two percent it's it's the yes it's their it's their revenue and we receive two percent of that revenue and it goes into the town's general fund it's anticipated as a revenue in our budget right and it's used to offset the taxes good okay i'm sorry mr court

It's nice to get an answer, so that's good. I'm just here real quick. Again, I got another notice that our taxes are yet again being reassessed. I've lived in the town for 19 years. My taxes have gone up more in the last five reassessments than they did in the first 14 years I lived here. And I've also been put on notice that I'm one of the 25% that's going to have to come to my house to make sure that they're assessing properly. I understand that the council is the one that votes for reassessment and we seem to be voting for, or you guys seem to be voting for reassessment every year. and I don't really quite get it. Just talking to other town councils and town council members, our taxes in New Jersey are based on our assessed value. I know that this council has voted not to increase how much the percentage is based on the town, but that doesn't affect the county, that doesn't affect the schools. So it's just a comment and I don't really understand how, We keep being reassessed year after year after year, or in the past, you might go through a reassessment once every five years. So that's, that's all I've got.

Thanks. Ms. Palmieri, the council does not set assessments.

The council, the council does not know the assessor will. Um, and as she said that the, um, the assessments are, are the assessor sets it. But our tax rate goes down as a result of those assessments going up. But as you said, we can't control the school in the county.

So who decides that we're going to be reassessed year after year?

The council will determine whether we're going to hire a reassessment firm to come in every year. That is the intention of the administration to take a pause in 2027.

That was a that was a decent part of our budget meeting is we spoke out against assessments like the constant assessments. So, you know, we, yeah, we certainly don't listen, everybody here lives in town, you know what I mean? So no, the council does not set that. And we, we did speak out about that as a concern during the budget

She doesn't decide it, but she works with the assessment company as they go from house to house, assessing 25% of the town at it each year. But it's the council who decides whether we're going to keep this reassessment program rolling. Like I said, we're going to take a pause in 2027 for the 2028 tax year.

That's what we voted on. And Council President, we did vote on that primarily because of the cost of the service, not so much to stop the assessment.

I would rather not. Sure, of course not. In words, what you think the reason is everybody voted. It's a mandatory four-year period. Mr. Kelly, you're out of order. Mr. Kelly, you are out of order.

Mr. Kelly, you're out of order.

Mr. Kelly, you're out of order. Just be honest to her. Mr. Kelly. To suppose that you know what everybody is thinking, and again, I know you think you're the smartest guy in the room, but it's just not the case.

You easily make me that smartest guy.

Mr. Kelly. Mr. Kelly. Just simple. Stop.

You don't even own a home to tax, so what are you talking about?

All right, so just for the record, and I know you know this, being a landlord is, if you pay rent. My taxes went up $12,000 this year. Well, you have how many properties? What's the difference? Well, is it a conflict of interest for you to vote on... No, not at all. What do you mean what's the difference?

If I work to lower taxes, everybody benefits from that. Mr. Kelly, stop.

First of all, you made the insinuation with Mary last year that renters don't pay taxes. That's completely false. Part of the rent goes to taxes. You don't pay taxes. Much like Mr. Kelly. You don't pay taxes. Mr. Kelly. You're out of order. You're wrong. Mr. Kelly, you're out of order. You're wrong. Stop trying to be smart guy. Trying to be right when you're wrong. So anybody who has ever rented knows that on your tax returns, you claim a portion for property taxes, right? Renters do not get off scot-free without paying rent. And you should know that. And I'm a little shocked that you, my, my renters, they don't pay tax.

They don't pay tax. I pay the taxes. Okay.

the public i i apologize this is not the way so do i apologize information you're out of order to the public i do apologize this is not how council members should be conducting themselves mr broderick okay i'm sorry yeah hi i'm david broderick i live at 10 barrister place and i'm a retired lawyer and law professor

And I'm here to discuss the threat to our constitutional rights posed by the widespread use of surveillance technology such as flock cameras and automatic license plate readers. 250 years ago, the Founding Fathers fought a war to free us from British rule. One of their major complaints against British rule was that the British authorities claimed the right to search the colonists' homes and vessels without obtaining a warrant from a neutral judge after demonstrating that the person targeted by the search had probably committed a crime, a standard known as probable cause. Twelve years after independence, the states adopted the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, including the Fourth Amendment, which protects us all against unreasonable searches and in general establishes a constitutional right to privacy. Courts have interpreted the Fourth Amendment to require that before performing a search, the authorities obtain a judicial warrant after demonstrating probable cause. Courts have also interpreted the Fourth Amendment in a way that accommodates the challenges raised by modern technology. For example, before the police may place a GPS tracking device on a person's car, they need to obtain a judicial warrant after demonstrating probable cause. However, at present, there is a gaping hole in the protection afforded by the Fourth Amendment. That is, police and other law enforcement authorities may request from private businesses which maintain flock cameras or ALPRs, copies of footage and data targeting specific individuals without the need to obtain a judicial warrant. so the police can target any individual for any reason whatsoever and track their movements in the same manner as placing a GPS device in their car, but without having to go before a judge to justify their actions. We are truly living in 1984. It's hoped that the courts or the state legislatures will close this gap. It will require police departments to obtain judicial warrants before they access the static. However, if and when this will occur is uncertain. But in the meantime, you as the governing body of our town can take a simple step that will protect the civil liberties of our restaurants by requiring that the Rockaway Township Police Department obtain a judicial warrant prior to accessing footage or data from any private businesses which utilize these devices. This is a basic safeguard which provide a measure of protection of our basic constitutional rights to be safe from unreasonable searches and the rights to privacy. I would personally be very happy to assist you and our town's legal counsel in drafting such an ordinance if there was interest in doing so. Thank you.

Thank you.

Can I respond to it?

No, you may not. Is there anybody from the public that did not sign the sheet, Ms. Coleman? You don't have to run.

I know. It's like everyone wants to get out of here.

Emily Coleman, 18 Lakeshore Drive. I just wanted to invite the council over to our library. If you haven't seen the mural that was painted in the stairway and the beautiful mural that is behind the resource desk. And a very dear friend of mine who's a fabulous artist did it. His name is Carmelo. And I hope that you'll go check it out and support the library. And if anybody has any other areas that could use some fun paintings, just let me know because it's really fabulous. Has anybody seen it? Has anybody been over there?

I have. I'm there every week.

Did you see the mural? Yeah. So check it out. Thank you.

Thank you. Anybody else in the public wish to speak? Okay. Ordinances for adoption. 02625. Ordinance providing for municipal building ADA improvements and restoration in and by the Township of Rockaway in the County of Morris, New Jersey, and appropriating $86,132.81, therefore constituting proceeds of a community development block grant from Morris County. Motion. Second. Anybody from the Council wish to speak on this ordinance? The public first or the council? Is there anybody from the council that wishes to speak on this ordinance? No, I just think that maybe we can provide a little bit of information about the ordinance. Mr. Kelly, the public is more than able to ask for any clarification. Mr. Kelly, Mr. Kelly, you're out of order. Mr. Kelly, you're out of order. You are not running this meeting, Mr. Kelly. You are not running this meeting. I have in Florida. You do not. Anybody from the public wish to speak on this ordinance alone? Okay, clerk, please take the role.

Council Member Sahlberg.

Yes.

Council Member Vojtovic. Yes. Council Member Freelander.

Yes.

Council Member Royick. Yes. Council Member Quinn.

Yes.

Council Member Kelly.

Yes.

Council Vice President Sackett.

Yes.

Council President Morrison.

Yes. Eight yeses. Motion passes. Oh 2626 in ordinance amending chapter chapter 54 entitled venues and development of the code of the township of Rockaway adopting the new zoning map and relocating specific ordinance sections. Can I have a motion motion second? You guys got it.

Anybody from the council wish to speak on this ordinance? Council President again, I just asked if you can add some clarity to the members of the public who are unaware with this ordinances. Okay, anybody else from the council?

No. It's not a no, Mr. Kelly. It's a affirmation that the public is grown up, and should they wish for further information, they have the opportunity to do so. Anybody from the public have any comments about this ordinance alone? Clerk, please take the roll.

Council Member Sattler.

Yes.

Council Member Wojtowicz. Yes. Council Member Freelander.

Yes.

Council Member Roya. Yes. Council Member Quinn. Yes. Council Member Kelly.

Yes.

Council Vice President Sackett.

Yes.

Council President Morrison.

Yes. AES's motion carries. Consent agenda.

Council President, can we remove R26-127 just for a separate vote and discussion? We just got new information today on the dais. Just go ahead and make the motion. Well, we don't require a motion on that, and I know you're going to vote no on it, so that's why.

Would you like to make a motion to remove it? Please do so. I'm asking you, Mr. Perrone.

Is it required to make a motion to remove it from the agenda?

You serve the whole entire council. Mr. Kelly, what is the holdup? If you look at precedents, every meeting we've had, if you want to remove something, make a motion to remove it. Just because you've been doing it wrong all along doesn't mean we have to continue that. I'm going to give you five seconds to make a motion. I'm going to let you make the motion or I'm going to move on.

I make the unnecessary motion to remove R26-127 for further discussion in a separate vote because I'm voting no against it and I will second it.

Okay. Clerk, please take the roll. Just follow procedure, man. It's not a procedure that's required. Again, you're not the smart guy in the room. Neither are you.

Council Member Salberg. Yes. Council Member Wojtowicz. Yes. Council Member Freelander.

Yes.

Council Member Royick. Yes. Council Member Quinn. Yes. Council Member Kelly.

Yes.

Council Vice President Sackett.

No.

Council President Morrison.

Yes. Seven yeses, one no. Motion carries. We got this yesterday?

Did we get this email yesterday? We did. Okay. Because you said today.

No, I know. I said on the dais today. Well, it's on the dais today. It doesn't mean you didn't get it today. It wasn't in my mail this morning. Email.

Okay.

But John, I said I didn't get it on the dais today. All right. So let's move forward with R26-128, R26-129, and R26-130. Can I have a motion? So moved. Second. Clerk, please take the roll.

Council Member Sauberg? Yes. Council Member Wojtowicz? Yes. Council Member Freelander? Yes. Council Member Roy? Yes. Council Member Quinn? Yes. Council Member Kelly?

Yes.

Council Vice President Sackett.

Yes.

Council President Morrison.

Yes, eight yeses, motion carries.

Okay, Mr. Kelly, go ahead, three minutes. So we have this ordinance here regarding the cannabis that's going on, and it's somewhat confusing because it has reference to 16 Green Pond Road. However, I believe the subject matter is 701 Ford Road, is that correct? Anybody? So Mrs. Ferrante, So, Mr. Perrone, there's a couple of questions that you can answer them all in one shot, if that's okay? Just ask your questions. What are we doing here?

Just ask your question.

All right. I want my time. That's what claims out for all that. All right. So Mrs. Ferrante, if you recall, we had Stevens Trucking Repair that was an illegal operation that was over at 701 Green Pond Road that was also built with a structure inside the well fields that are there.

Currently on this property- 701 Green Pond Road?

I'm sorry, 701 Ford Road. We also have numerous, tree companies that are in the back of this building. We have a solid waste debris collection agency that's there. We have motor and freight companies that are independent from the building that are there. These are all uses that I don't see any CEOs or approvals for, but yet we're doing an approval for another business without making sure that the other areas of this structure and use is compliant. One other concern I have is that it does say that provided a complete lease agreement. However, I don't see exhibit A that was included as it's mentioned in this lease agreement for this establishment. So before we go any further, shouldn't we make sure that this use and location is compliant before we add an additional use and approve it to this council tonight? Mr. Perrone?

David Novak, and this letter is not significant at this point because this is a letter that goes to the state, not to the council. This is just a letter that tells the state that the application is compliant with our zoning ordinances, basically.

So it's a typo that doesn't substantially change the...

It's a typo where I think Dave took it...

The point is that typo doesn't change the substance of the ordinance or anything else.

What's the typo? The typo is... is the regarding the typo is kind cush rockaway township llc it's interesting green pond road what happened what happened was when i when i saw the typo today

You didn't get it yesterday? Hang on a second. Mr. Sackett, didn't he get it yesterday?

Hang on a second. Everybody stop. Mr. Perrone? Mr. Perrone? Mr. Perrone? Mr. Kelly? Stop. We're done. You're looking for something that's not there.

I am. You're not answering because it doesn't comply with what we're voting on tonight on R26127. We do not have a complete lease to review. I understand what you're saying.

We don't know the total amount of money for the lease agreement that's there. Listen, I understand what you're saying. We have problems on the actual structure that's there. Mr. Kelly, you're out of order. Mr. Kelly, you're out of order. I understand your concern that the entire administration and legal department that we employ, you know better than them, okay? I understand that you feel that. However- How does that imply that, Mr. Perrone? I'm questioning about illegal uses that are on that property.

We're moving on. Is there anybody else in the council that wishes to discuss this?

Anybody else? And you're all going to vote in favor of it? Again, Mr. Kelly, you don't know more than everybody. You have a whole administration here asking questions.

I'm not asking questions to get answers, Mr. Morrison.

And you're not allowed to have a typo. No, I'm not talking about a typo. I'm talking about the illegal uses on this property. Well, you know what? You got this the same time everybody else did. So it's not unbelievable, Mr. Mr. Kelly, Mr. Kelly.

I said illegal uses.

Mr. Solberg, stop. Mr. Kelly, stop. Don't interrupt him.

Didn't I just interrupt him?

Good God, man.

Anybody else from the council wish to speak? It's just one thing. This resolution is only we're voting on it to let the state know that it's compliant with the current ordinance, right? If this business wants to open up its business, still gonna have to go through all the permitting and everything else, correct?

That's not 100% accurate. And they have to get licensing right that specific location.

Right. Okay. Okay. But Mr. Perrone, Mr. Kelly, it's not your time.

Be quiet.

Don't give me that look like that. That's all you want. Jesus Christ. Be quiet.

There's a separate letter that is sent by our planner to the state who advised the state that there, that that particular zone with, uh, allows for that use. That's basically what this letter says. I think Dave took the letter basically, but it's a form letter for the different Ray on it. And he, he. did the letter quickly because he got back in town recently. And then today, today he did correct it. And I, and I, I'm looking for it and I found it on my email and I'll send it to everybody so that you have it, but it's not relevant to your vote. I know because this is Mr. Perrone.

Everybody knows that we're not voting on the letter. Mr. Kelly, you're out of order. It's not your time. Clerk, please take the roll.

Council Member Salberg. Yes. Council Member Vojtovich. Yes. Council Member Freelander.

Yes.

Council Member Royuk. Yes. Council Member Quinn.

Yes.

Council Member Kelly.

No.

Council Vice President Sackett.

Yes.

Council President Morrison.

Yes. Seven yeses, one no. Motion carries. And again, before we move on, the public here we go it's i wish and he's not going to be able to go three minutes i'll even give myself three minutes he will not be able to go three minutes i promise you without breaking it okay and this is what i want to project out there this is not how the council and township should be run all right it's a collaboration right eight of the nine council members collaborate All the time, right? We talk, we have adult discussions, right? We don't break into each other's conversation. We also understand that we aren't the experts, right? Mr. Kelly thinks he's the expert, right? Because he happens to do a couple septic systems doesn't make him an expert on septic systems, right? Even things like he makes the comment that renters don't pay taxes. It's completely false, right? So rent is based on the amount of property taxes. Guys, please. your rent is based on what the property taxes are. When I file my taxes, I get to put in whatever percentage of my rent is income, property tax, all right? Talking about, you know, a marijuana growing operation. We have a excellent administration that crosses their T's and dots their I's, right? We have excellent legal representation who goes over all of this before the council gets it, right? But Mr. Kelly thinks he's an expert, right? He's not an expert. None of us are experts, right? We were part-time council people, all right? It's a collaboration, people. It's embarrassing, right? To everybody else who is really trying to do what they're supposed to do. I sincerely apologize. Coming to a council meeting should not be confrontational, yet it is. council members should not be threatened yet we are okay we're just trying to do the best we can for the town thank you okay uh shade tree commission um this is a mayoral appointment does not require a vote all right um aaron de court Beverly Fran, John Maurer, Linda Zenkert, Brian Barros, Emily Coleman, Susan Royek. Again, mayoral appointment doesn't require.

Yeah, so go ahead. Everybody could stand. We had a great meeting, Lisa and I, with the library board. And one of the things they talked about and asked about was reigniting the shade treatment commission. Right. Come on, guys. Everybody stand up. Yeah, these people actually identified and wanted to be part of it. So we really appreciate that. And Councilman Roy wanted to be part of it. So I'm looking forward to your contributions. So thank you. Thank you all for volunteering. Thank you.

Okay, Diogo Cassano, full membership, fire company number five. Jordan Nigro, full membership, fire company number four. I'd like to make the motion.

Can I have a second? Second.

That's like eight.

The whole crew.

Clerk, please take the roll.

Council Member Salberg.

Yes.

Council Member Wojtowicz.

Yes.

Council Member Freelander. Yes. Council Member Royick. Yes. Yes. Council member Quinn.

Yes.

Council member Kelly.

Yes.

Council vice president Sackett.

Yes.

Council president Morrison.

Yes. Eight yeses. Motion carries. Congratulations. Council president, we passed new business.

Yep.

That's all part of new business. All right. I'm sorry if you feel slighted. We haven't got that yet. Um, Is there any new business from the council? I do. Three minutes. You can just pass that along to everybody there.

Council President, I just wanted to make awareness to the members of the public. In November of 2023 into December, one of my properties that I had, as I was tearing down and doing a demo, I actually found a late 1700, early 1800 log cabin inside the structure that I have there. We've had numerous amount of historians, some local historians, out of state, Pennsylvania, but from Virginia down DC area. I've had people from New York, Columbia University, everybody that was really involved, where this was actually potentially constructed pre the incorporation of Rockaway Township in 1844. It looks like, appears like there was a residency. There was a second story on the inside. And the dolls that you see were actually dolls that were embedded in the wall. That was a false wall built in front of that window. That window was not exposed inside the house. Again, this was really just the kitchen area of the larger ranch that was there. So unfortunately I had succumbed to a pretty heavy injury at the time on site, some emergency surgery and fixed a lot of things that were broken on me and a couple of delays, but it's getting to the point where it's time to come down. So I wanted to give the public, there's some documentation in the far corner down there of these pictures for everybody to see. I don't know if, Bob, can you zoom in on that by chance? just so that the public can see it on the video.

Send them the attachment.

I'm sure we could also put it in the... Well, here's the problem though. And this is what's disappointing and I'm gonna mention it. I did reach out to the administration with the mayor and Joe, unfortunately, you were not willing to put it on our website or our social media or Facebook. I have the emails following that. And even sadder than that, Mr. Freelander, we had a conversations when you were ill, when I talked to you in the hospital, on this issue where two of the historic volunteers refused to even put in the minutes of the meeting when it was discussed and do anything about it. So I've never had any of the township approach me, though I've reached out to them to document the history Some would explore or even potentially save it with moving it over to Ford Facial Oak property or whatever the case may be. So that was sad that I believe politics got a little bit in the way on this one. And I did try to keep and preserve it and dismantled it by hand once I found the area here for people to enjoy it. So because of the lack of interest of this administration, however, other people did enjoy it. I'm going to give it another two weeks and hopefully more people will come before I take it down by the holidays that are coming. So again, anybody that wishes to come and inspect it and see it, please reach out to me. 973-886-8417 is my cell. You can Google my name. There is a story of this. It also made it six pages in weird New Jersey. So it was an interesting thing where other people thought it was interesting outside of our administration.

Anybody else on the council have new business? Okay. Council reports. I'm sorry. Did you have something, Jack?

Yes, I did.

For new business.

For new business, I'm clarifying the statement that was made about the cannabis facility and lease agreement.

We're past that at this point.

Well, it's in our package. All right.

Stop. You do not have the floor.

Mr. Kelly, you're out of order. Can't miss it.

Yeah. So I understand it's in the packet. Thank you. Mr. Kelly, just correct. You're out of order. He's got it right there. It was in the packet. You could have seen it if you want. Mr. Kelly, read the amount.

You're out of order. It's right here. Mr. Quinn, nothing.

If you want to see, you could see the same papers that everybody else.

I have it. Show me where the rent is.

You don't. Okay. Moving on to reports. Uh, why not? Mr. Kelly, you have three minutes.

Hold on one second.

Okay, two things. One, we had a phenomenal employee that just retired on August 1st, Kevin Miller. Kevin Miller was a dialer ride operator and Kevin Miller was by far one of the most dedicated employees serving his passengers, the senior citizens of Rockaway Township. Not only did he do it while he was on the clock, he did it even outside of that. And I just wish him the best on his retirement. He's got a wonderful son, also named Kevin Miller. It's a police officer in town who's a mirror image of his dad. Just a wonderful person. I had a concern. We had a discussion last time about new business and third party. And I want to read a section here from an email on the 19th of June. And it's the sworn personnel. To all personnel, please be advised that the safety and security of our Rockaway Township community is a prior priority for us as Rockaway Township police officers. Therefore, the unwillingness to fill overtime shifts, all third party will be suspended indefinitely. I have a police chief who wrote this to the personnel that's there threatening retaliation financially against the sworn police officers below chief and down. This is a problem. We already lost this township through you guys at one particular time with a retaliation against Greg Albert, Sergeant, which ended up costing us what, Mr. Perrone, 400 grand for attorney fees and everything else that was there? So I make a motion that we create an investigatory committee, an HOC committee, to investigate this statement that's made of a retaliation against police officers by our chief of police. to create a committee. I would want you on the committee. I would like Mr. Wachowicz on the committee and myself. I'll even allow you to be chair.

Can I get a second for that motion? It's not in our jurisdiction to do that. We have a human resources department. I am asking, I have a motion on the floor. We can do it. You're making a motion to investigate Mr. Sackett. Is there a second for Mr. Kelly? Hang on.

You're interrupting me. I have the floor.

Can I say something?

Go ahead. I have the floor.

This is a personnel matter.

That's what I'm saying.

I have someone accusing someone in public without a rice notice of a personnel violation.

Yeah, but he doesn't care.

I'm submitting to you, this conversation should end right now.

I agree. My second thing that I want to let everybody know, tax quarter had just come up for the third quarter with our new tax amount. and everybody is going to the tax collector. They are nice people. They are not the ones that increased your taxes. It was the fiscally incompetent eight people to the left of me that increased your taxes. They didn't work with the school boards. They had opportunities to make additional cuts to minimize any expenses that were increased on your end. So don't blame anybody else. blame these people next to me to the left i voted no and all that stuff they don't care because they get paid each one of these people get paid 10 grand i think the council president gets a little bit more they don't care about any increases and the council president doesn't pay taxes even to complain about so remember that everybody it's not a lie it's those people eight votes yes to increase your amount of money along with the school I'm done.

All right. Again, folks, I'm sorry that this is turning into a electioneering, but it's patently false. It's extremely false. Everybody on the council, again, worked very well together with the budget. I went through the entire minutes of the budget. And just to show that it's not one self-proclaimed man standing against all, there were 46 motions made by Mr. Kelly that day.

To lower the taxes, right?

Plus three maybe to increase? 46 motions were made. 23 of them passed with the agreement of the rest of the council with the rest of the eight of us incompetent council as he says so 23 of them passed uh 20 failed and three were withdrawn okay what were the ones that most council president

And how much were they for the request for reduction? Well, again, it's irrelevant. Tell them how much it was. It's not relevant. Tell them what you voted against.

Mr. Kelly.

110% increase in overtime for police. Mr. Kelly. 110%.

Mr. Kelly, you're out of order. Be quiet. Be truthful. Okay. So if we're going to bring up the reduction that... Guys, please. the motion that Mr. Kelly made to reduce police overtime. Okay. It's a budget that is afforded to the police department when necessary to extend overtime to the officers when the situation warrants right now. The other thinking is, well, let's say we didn't have the overtime and we just hired another officer. Well, we don't always need another officer, nevermind that another officer with benefits and pension and all that kind of stuff is more expensive than having a reserve for overtime. When we approve overtime, it doesn't mean that we're gonna use it, right? It's there should our extremely competent police force, the chief and captains down, should our very competent police department feel the need to have over time more police on duty for whatever reason it may be, that's what it's there for. It doesn't get spent immediately. There's a lot of things that we approve in the budget that aren't used, that money comes back into the general fund. So it's a narrative. He's trying to start to run for election next year. It's a narrative that he's putting out that the rest of the council is wasteful. We are not. We are cautious, right? When years ago, all right, again, years ago, you know, when there was a different council, you know, they took millions of dollars out of the budget. Mr. Kelly, you're out of order. but you lowered it at the expense and the danger of the town you have no proof mr kelly otherwise you're lying mr kelly you are you are factually lying mr kelly you're out of order if you can't sit there and be quiet be honest mr kelly mr morrison be quiet be honest Folks, it's there for anybody to read. I apologize that this keeps happening, right? I really do. It's shameful that this council, some of which have been on here, how many years you guys been on? A lot. That's a shame. A lot. Yeah, that's scary. Mr. Kelly.

Yeah.

All right, moving on. Mr. Wachowicz, can you take us back?

So last last meeting I proposed or asked the administration to maybe reduce the the front setback. And I just want to update the public that they've been doing their diligence. It looks like we're moving forward and hopefully within the next meeting or maybe two, we'll we'll have something to be to vote on. So I appreciate that. We had another national night out. The captain might correct me. I think it was the third one, which was starting Rockaway Township, right? You know, every year we're improving. I think it's good. Some of the other municipalities have been doing them for decades. So a lot of people go through the other municipalities, but I think the Rockaway Township Police Department is doing a good job and it's getting better every year. I would also like to address the concern. There's a lot of, I think, misinformation on social media when it comes to the ALPRs and the flock cameras. I don't know if people are aware that these automated license plate readers that officers use are regulated by the New Jersey Attorney General guidelines. And when you talk about a retention of the information, when the officers could access the information, that's all automated. uh guided by the guideline and there's an audit system that the department has to comply with you know when when someone does access it illegally officers have been charged criminally fired so i think the the benefit of of that technology outweighs the the concern i mean there's you know abducted killed kids have been have been found because of this technology we have solve the serious crimes, you know, stop terrorist attacks. So this technology is really good. And especially in New Jersey, you know, I know somebody mentioned the Fourth Amendment, things like that. But in New Jersey, under the New Jersey Constitution, the officers have to comply. They have to take a lot more steps to access some of that information. So it's not just available out there just for anybody. I don't see officers abusing it. It's been used for over 15 years. And again, it's extremely beneficial to our police department and also to the public, to the community. So that's all I have. Thank you.

Thank you. Yes, I also attended the National Night Out, which was very nice to support the Rockwood Township Police. I went to the Board of Adjustment meeting on the 12th. Sorry, I was on the Board of Education meeting on the 12th. They talked about the no cell phone policy for the schools in the 2026, 2027 year. That's something new. And the superintendent also is encouraging people to go on his coffee house chats to ask questions about anything they want to about the Board of Ed. And I also wanted to thank Lisa Palmieri for her help when I send my emails with town issues that I'm having with residents. I really appreciate your help. Thank you very much. I think that's it. Thank you.

Councilman Quinn. Thank you. First, I'd like to ask administration, That big gas tank that we have down at the senior building, I had sent an email for an update on when the screening would be going in. And because I'm getting complaints from residents, I'm also wanting to know when that tank is going to be operational. I have not heard back yet. And the senior building... The staircase has one handrail going down on the right side. If you're coming up, there is no handrail on the staircase from the lower level. Should have a handrail, seeing I can only utilize one arm if I use those stairs. The other thing is there is a steep hill. There's no fence and or rail. to prevent kids or seniors from falling down that hill. Something that we need to really look at. Football and cheerleading rally is September 4th. Hopefully I'll see everybody there. And seeing this is our last meeting for this month, September will be in full fledge for sports. Thank you.

Councilman Friedlander. Yes, thank you. A couple of quick notes. The library met. We met at Hibernia. You're gonna be interested in seeing a painted building. That's gonna be going soon. The bids are out, right? Because we have a grant for that. Got to thank administration and the library board for pushing that. Historical Society, we've been having open house on Sundays for August. We did Saturdays in July and that's going well. We only got a couple left and the building is going to be shut down again because we did get a lot of grant money and then they got to go to the next phase and do the floors and everything else. So that's shut down because obviously you can't have people in there when the They're working on the floors. Substance abuse, they had a fundraiser at the Orange Theory by the mall. It went well. They're talking about the bingo fundraiser again, which is in the planning stages. And let's see what else with them. And that's it as far as that goes. Everything else is pretty quiet. That's it.

Thank you. Yes, no report on the county commissioners. But the Mars County Municipal Utilities Authority, the MCM UA recently announced the recipients of their 2026 waste reduction and recycling grant recipients happy to say Rockaway Township was one of the recipients, we're going to be receiving funds for improvement to our curbside recycling trucks. So that was just recently announced, which is nice. Open Space Trust Fund. Applications did finally come in, so we're going to be meeting mid-September to start evaluating the recipients of the funds for this year. For next year. For next year, yes. Well, for 26. final thing uh for anyone that might be interested um in october there's going to be a benefit uh 5k down at 66 ford road the big hearted 5k um have more information it is posted if anyone wants to find out about it you can see it at www.4htm.org and again it's to benefit the hcma um nice and flat it's nice and easy so hope you can attend thank you

Thank you. Council President, Council Solberg, will you be participating in that race? I will. I will.

I won't say how long it's going to take me, but I will.

Thank you. Thank you, Council President. I guess I'll go back to July. A couple of things. We had the white middle lake festival weekend and the parade, which was a great, well attended weekend. I also attended, um, the Marcella community club, first responders, picnic and pig roast. Very well attended as well. It rained a little bit that day. And, uh, Kelly was there. It was a nice, uh, good spread over there. They did a great job.

You took some stuff in a plastic bag back to mom has to eat.

Um, I attended the national night out in Rockaway. It was, I think second or third one, like councilman said, and it's growing every year. So it was great. After that, I stopped by our neighbors in Rockaway borough to say hi to the mayor and check them out. And, um, they've been doing it for a long time. So, um, it's nice to always see our other communities and see what's going on, take some tips, you know, tips back for us and everything. And, um, you know, since I was one of the eight that, uh, is raising our taxes. I just want to talk briefly about the budget. Because I made quite a bit of motions that day to cut our taxes. I also cut our council raises. I cut those all out. Hey, I cut them $300 a person. I gave up. Mr. Kelly, it's not. You actually didn't give up your salary. Mr. Kelly, it's not your time. You did not give up your salary. That is not true. I don't get that. Mr. Kelly, can you just be quiet? You gave your salary to a different department. We're still paying it. The taxpayers are still paying your salary. Mr. Kelly. But they're still paying it. i mean you could take zero you could take zero dollars i know that would save the taxpayers don't let them taxpayers are still paying so um we did save quite a bit of money that day we worked you know all eight of the members did work very well that day at the budget meeting um that's all i got thank you thanks

I'm going to be quick. The kids are going back to school last week of August, which is earlier than I ever remember it. um being really really early um some of us have kids that are heading off to college for the first time um that happened really fast uh so i got two heading off to college um and i know that council vice president's daughter got picked up by a d1 soccer team oh congrats so uh I'm going to put a bid in for NIL. You're already working with some people, but thank you. But I was talking to Mr. Sackett. It was a really cool story. So she went up from, what, a D3 to a D1? D1.

She played for Rockaway Township Rec through the ranks, Rockaway Township Rec, and then we moved on after travel, played for a few club teams, and played for Rutgers Newark last year, Division III, started half the season in goal, and now she's at Division I scene hall. Take some of your dad. So she does. Right. That's it. He's a good coach.

Hopefully we'll thank you. Hopefully she'll be in here to talk about her national championship. So that's it. Just be safe, guys. You know, people are going to be out there again. Buses will be out on the road. It's going to it's here before, you know, so just be careful. Anybody from the administration have a report?

Yeah, I'll go through. I'm going to go through some things, but I just want to first address, I'm not going to get into personnel items. There's a lot of campaigning going on tonight in general. It's all truth, Joe. Our police officers for third-party work get paid time and a half of the highest pay scale, not of their base pay. So a first year officer is getting paid of what an officer at the top of their pay scale is getting. So I'm going to ask council member Boytovich because I think he's the only one that's in law enforcement. He's been in law enforcement for 30 years. When you were younger in law enforcement, if you had an opportunity to make your base rate and a half, to work overtime in the town to protect and serve the community, or you had an opportunity to get third party work and make time and a half at the highest base rate, which one would you pick? To have duty jobs at third party. So if you have overtime work that's not getting filled, does that hurt public safety?

Absolutely. I mean, I think that's the administration's, you know, the leadership's position to write. They got to respond to. Would you be upset if the chief took away your opportunity?

Mr. Kelly, it's not your time.

Would you be upset of that?

Mr. Kelly, can you control yourself? I'm asking him a question like the mayor did. And it's not your time. Yeah. So you had your time.

um we got a letter uh one of the attorneys that works for our planning board uh is closing her offices so she's a very complimentary letter um talking about her zoning officer shelly khan our clerk aaron murray um a bunch of people on the planning board zoning board just had very complimentary things to talk about how she worked with them over the years and uh how great they've been to her so we wish her luck um Got a nice letter on, uh, our fire director, Mr. Heitzelman, uh, from, uh, a member of the, uh, uh, Fox Hills community as president of Roosevelt building at Fox Hills complex on behalf of all our residents. I want to thank you and all the volunteers for your quick response Wednesday, the 12th, the volunteers are truly admired by all of us for the time and effort they give the Rockaway township. Please convey my thanks to them. Um, we talked about adam already covered the grant um i want to mention that um september is ovarian cancer awareness month ovarian cancer is one of the deadliest cancers impacting women yet it remains one of the most underfunded and least understood over 21 000 women in the united states will be diagnosed this year and 12 450 will lose their lives a staggering 64 mortality rate More than 75% of women are diagnosed at advanced stages due to vague systems and lack reliable early detection tests. The five year survival rate remains below 50% and tragically that number has not significantly improved in decades. This disease has no standard of care, is chronic and carries an 85% recurrence rate. Many women with lg soc lose their ability to have biological children with no time or guidance to preserve fertility ovarian cancer steals dreams to increase awareness in september um we're going to hopefully participate in illuminating our municipal building in teal and we'll post useful links in our social media platforms together as a community we hope to shine a light on the gravely overlooked disease and give hope to women and families who need it the most thank you mayor And that's all I have for tonight. As I've been doing historically, all the department heads will be posting a report on Facebook to share with everybody for our August reports.

Thank you. Anybody else from administration have a report? Make a motion to adjourn by consensus. All in favor? Aye. Meeting adjourned.