01-21-2026 - Township of Hamilton Committee Meeting

like to bring the Wednesday, January
21st, 2026 Township of Hamilton
Committee meeting to order. Please rise
for the flag.
>> Pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
stands one nation,
indivisible with liberty and justice for
all.
Adequate notice of this meeting has been
provided pursuant to the New Jersey open
public meetings law by posting a notice
of this meeting on the bulletin board in
the municipal building and by
transmitting notice of this meeting to
the press of Atlantic City, the Star
Ledger and the Atlantic County Record on
January the 6th, 2026. Mr. Akim
>> here,
>> Mr. Cheek here.
>> Miss Thompson here.
>> Dr. Withersp
here.
>> We have a moment of silence for private
reflection.
Thank you. Okay, we have a couple of
proclamations.
I'm going to start with uh retirement of
Detective Leo Rudolph.
Come on.
The gun off in the ass.
Oh, okay. Whereas Leo Rudolph has been a
resident of Mae Lanny for 38 years. He
received a BA in liberal arts from Ryder
University and was hired by the Township
of Hamilton Police Department in August
of 2002. Whereas Leo Rudolph was
assigned to various units over 23 plus
years, including patrol officer, master
police officer, and detective. Whereas
Leo Rudolph received specialized
training in areas including field
training officer, criminal
investigations,
Alcatest operator, methods of
instruction, and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation crisis negotiator
training. Whereas Leo Rudolph was a
recipient of multiple awards throughout
his career, including exceptional
service awards, the NJPBA valor award,
and the PBA local value valor
award. In 2008, he was a recipient of
the Medal of Honor, which is the highest
award an officer can receive. Now
therefore be it proclaimed that we, the
Township Committee of the Township of
Hamilton, County of Atlantic, State of
New Jersey, on this day, January 21st,
2026, do hereby recognize Leo Rudolph in
honor of his devotion to the residents
Township of Hamilton. We take this
opportunity to express our heartfelt
appreciation for a job well done. And we
hereby offer Detective Rudolph our
congratulations on his retirement and
our best wishes for him for continued
success, happiness, and good health in
the years to come.
Still
for 23 years.
>> That's why.
>> Okay.
Um, we have some uh
proclamations for HPC.
Um, first one is
124 Lenipe Avenue.
Come on down.
How are you?
124 Lipy Avenue, formerly known as 326
Mil Street, is a two-story, two-bay deep
frame dwelling built around 1870 with
Greek Revival and Queen Anne influences.
Character defining elements of the house
include its massing, which means its
general shape and form, gable end
returns, wood sash windows with wood
surrounds, and molded
lentils.
It has been kept very close to its
original form due to the attention of
Ms. Venetsia and is a fine example of a
historic
home in the district. Thank you. And I'd
like to present this plaque
to you.
And then we have 5045 Ma Maze Landing
Summers Point Road.
>> No,
I'm sorry.
>> Come on down.
5045 Maze Ending Summers Point Road has
been an iconic presence in Maze Landing
and the historic survey is referred to
as the Trin Abbott House grallyun
country store. This house appears to be
a Gothic house and actually dates from
the late 18th or early 19th century
circa 1800. The facade is five bays wide
with six over six windows. An archtop
window is in the center of the cross
cable. A leaded glass transom tops the
door. There is now a two-story porch
with gingerbread trim across the south
side of the house and a bay window
extending from north side. The house
continues to be preserved with attention
to detail and the HPC thanks Mr. Morris.
I'd like to present this plaque in
recognition for the for his commitment.
ALL RIGHT, guest presentations. We have
uh an update by the HTMU, Dan Lovelin,
the executive director.
>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, so for those
of you who don't know me, I'm Dan
Lovelin, the executive director of the
Hamilton Township MUA. Joined the MUA in
uh, June of 2024.
I grew up here in Maze Landing, moved
out of the area because of work for a
long time. Happy to be back in the area
and part of the community again. Uh,
want to cover three areas this
afternoon. Go through them pretty
quickly. The first the focus areas for
the MUA. uh our response to the boil
water advisory that happened last August
and then where we're where we're at from
a rate perspective
if I can get this thing to go. There we
go.
So, first why we have the focus areas
that we have. Um with any organization,
you want to start out by taking stock of
of what's working well for you um and
where you have opportunities to improve.
So, we we went through what's called a a
SWAT analysis, strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats. And what you
see listed up here, really, our
strengths are are in our our
organization, right? We have a dedicated
workforce. We have a supportive board.
Uh the folks that were in my chair
before me did a good job of keeping the
debt low and managing it well. So, our
debt expires between 2031 and 2034. Uh
and we have some of the lowest rates in
the area. I think the third lowest in
the in South Jersey. Um,
one of our our strong goals is to keep
those rates low while maintaining um,
quality service and and being responsive
to our customers. From an opportunity
perspective, uh, we have low interest
financing in place today. We also have
the ability to go for low interest
financing as we as we navigate some of
the challenges ahead of us. We have
spent the last 18 months working on and
improving and then implementing a
10-year capital plan. We do have an
asset management software system that
we're not utilizing to its fullest
capability and we're we're working we
actually just started a young man about
three weeks ago uh for a one-year
position, a recent graduate. He's a Maze
Landing resident. He's he's uh he's
jumped right in on both feet with both
feet on that. From a risk perspective,
like any organization, particularly in
utilities, there's a gap in hiring. So
we have a we have an an aged workforce
with a lot of skills and then we have a
very young workforce and that transition
is is something we have to navigate.
One of the biggest risks that we have is
the the regulatory requirement for
removal of lead and galvanized services
and then dealing with POS or forever
chemicals. The um the challenge for us
our typical capital spends about$ 1.5
million a year. It's about a $17.5
million ad to our capital plan and has
to be done by 2031. So that from a rate
perspective, managing what we want to do
for rates for our customers, it is
really what we've been focused on for
the last 18 months, getting through that
hurdle without impacting rates greatly.
Um,
and then of course cyber security. Any
critical infrastructure system that you
have, cyber security has to be top of-
mind all the time.
for improvements.
The the one one of the standouts for us
is the age of our mains, both water and
sewer. We're fortunate to have
technology to be able to line the sewer,
but on the water main front, um the
challenge is there's really no way to to
in place improve them, you have to
replace them. We uh in addition to the
lead and galvanized, we have about
17,000 lineal feet of mains that are
pre-1950 on our system. And uh I brought
with me a little showand tell piece. So
this is from the River Road main
replacement. This is a pipe we just a
section of a pipe we just replaced put
in in 1906. So this thing 23 years of a
career is impressive. This thing's been
serving our customers for over 120 years
and it's still it was still holding up
pretty well, but we had a lead and
galvanized issue to deal with and there
were some other concerns.
So that brings us to what our action
plan is. Again, talked about the 10-year
capital plan, the the challenge of
having a really a t-fold investment to
make in addition to maintaining our
system over the next few years. Um
what we've done is we've gone through
the 10-year capital plan. We've come up
with a a plan to effectively retire our
existing debt by 2028. And so I'll talk
a little bit about a rate increase that
we just put in place and and why we did
that. And when I say effectively, as I
mentioned earlier, we have a low
interest now. So what we're doing is
we're we're gathering cash now to cover
those future payments, but not being
foolish enough to give up that low
interest rate. So we're going to make
money. Part of what our 10-year capital
plan is is to leverage that interest.
Organizational development. We we've
brought in summer interns over the last
uh last summer. And then we have the
provisional employee one-year employee
for this year. We also engaged a
licensed operator consultant. We're a
small organization. The licensed
operator is a critical position for us.
Uh we found WRM resources as a a viable
alternative and a backup for us. And
actually we're we're engaging them now
as we uh navigate some some
organizational issues. Um the uh and
then succession planning and system
documentation
has to be in place to deal with the gap
in our workforce. Um from an employee
engagement standpoint, I just want to
point out one thing and then I won't
hold up much more on this slide. The the
alternative benefits plan, I know
Hamilton Township went through the
township of Hamilton went through the
same thing. So we all went through a
scramble last October uh to try to get a
viable benefits plan. our our rate
increase was going to be about 36%.
So the impact on the employees was
probably bigger than the impact on the
organization. We would have lost some
folks. And so looking at this year,
that's going to be another focus area
for us. And one one of the things that
we'll work closely with the township
with the county as well to see if
there's alternatives that we can come up
with to get ahead of what's going to
happen in 2027. And the sprint for that
I think Brett Brett and his team had to
navigate as well. We didn't really find
out the details until the beginning of
October and we had to have everybody
signed up by the end of October.
Moving on to uh projects. So on this
slide, the recently completed projects,
three of those seven projects are tied
to that regulatory challenge and they're
just the start of the 17.5 million we
have to invest. as we move forward into
the upcoming projects, it it becomes
even more pronounced. So, in 2026, two
of the of the five large projects that
we're going to undertake are tied to
that regulatory challenge. We also have
the SCADA system upgrade that's tied to
the boil water advisory. And then in uh
2027, we had to shrink the number of
projects. It's really two or three that
are tied to that regulatory challenge.
The PAS and the lead and galvanized
pipe.
Any questions at this point?
boil water update. So,
um we performed what's called a root
cause analysis. Boil water advisory was
a tough tough situation for everybody
involved and we really appreciate the
township support u in in in every aspect
of it. We know it was not easy for
anybody that was involved in it. So, we
took that seriously. The root cause
investigation, the goal of a root cause
is to make sure that you don't repeat
the event or anything similar. The root
cause investigation, we went through the
taproot approach takes about a month to
go through of us sitting down and
walking through all the details. Out of
it, we came we we came forward with 14
corrective actions. At this point, we're
about 60% implemented on those. The
largest of those corrective actions is
updating our SCADA system uh to current
technology. It's a good SCADA system,
but it's dated and so it has its
limitations.
Um,
any questions on boil water advisory?
Okay.
Finally, I'll cover our recent rate
increase. We did get a few phone calls
about this. Not a ton. Uh, in January,
we we raised our rates um more than we
typically do. We typically see about a 2
to 3% rate increase per year to cover
our operating costs. This year we were
in that 7 to 8% range. It works out to
be about a $4 per house uh per month
rate increase. And as I said earlier,
that was strategic to overcome that
$17.5 million um challenge for us for
lead lines and and PIFA's removal.
And so what we what we've done by by
putting that rate increase in now and
and being able to effectively retire our
debt early, we've avoided what would
have been between a 20 and 30% rate
increase if we had had to put new debt
on top of the existing debt and then we
would have ended up in 2032 2033 time
frame with a with an awkward situation
of having overcolcted but the the impact
would have been pretty hard on our
customers. Uh our rates do remain among
the lowest in New Jersey. If you look,
the average water utility bill in in New
Jersey is about $82 a month and we're
we're still sitting at starting at$,650
a month. So, we're doing pretty good by
our customers from a rate perspective
and we are uh roughly a third of the
cost of the regulated utilities in our
area. So, uh that's all I had. Any
questions?
>> I have a question.
>> Sure.
>> Uh you probably went over maybe I didn't
understand it. What is the process for
contacting
the residents in the event?
>> Yes.
>> Of another boil water.
>> Yeah, that's a great
>> situation. Great question, Delma. And
and so we did spend a lot of time
um walking through that and we've we've
talked to the township as well. So we've
put in place uh we we had we have the
capability for ROOC calls out of our
system. um we had gone to a different
system and that that was really a
textbased system but that required
updates from all of our customers and we
didn't have them in place. So we're
going to leverage the robocall as well
as the the system that the township has
in place moving forward. And so we've
updated our emergency response plan to
make sure that those are the deliberate
steps that we take. We've also in order
to make sure that there's an
understanding, a clear understanding,
our emergency response plan now is going
to be updated every year in November.
And then we're going to drill a
particular event, a potential event
every March so that our folks are not
just updating the plan, but we're
actually enacting the plan. And so we'll
be engaging the township through those
drills to make sure that the
coordination pieces are are understood.
We'll be very deliberate on making sure
this we we say this is a drill every
time we make a phone call so nobody gets
confused.
And that's for people who u pay for
water, right? What about the people who
don't pay for water?
>> Like,
>> so help me understand
>> like that the homeowners and people like
that who already pay for it. You they're
on a robocall. Is everybody in the
township on a robocall or is it just
certain people?
>> So the rooc call system
gets to our customer base,
>> right? Are you talking about folks
outside the territory?
>> Outside of outside
>> the folks that are on well systems and
such.
>> Well, well, no, because wells don't that
that doesn't they don't need that
because they got well water,
>> right?
>> But I mean people who may live in
>> like in the woodlands, the apartment
buildings
and and so we've updated those that
critical contact list is one of the
things that needed to be updated in our
emergency response plan as well. And
we've updated that critical contact
list. that we have somebody we we call
directly to make sure that they're
reaching out to their folks. We'll use
the Woodlands as an example. So, we know
who to call at the Woodlands to make
sure that their management company is
aware and that they're reaching out to
their their folks. But, we would have no
way of tracking all their individual
renters because our our system wouldn't
be able to track it. So, we have to rely
on them to communicate forward for us.
But, we did update and and Haley in our
office has reached out and verified all
those contacts for us in the emergency
response plan.
>> Thank you. Other
questions?
>> Are we going to start with the training
exercise this March or that'll be next
year? Okay.
>> Yes, we will be. We will be going
through and and actually loss of SCADA
is going to be our first drill because
you think about what our system is and
how reliant we become on technology we
all have. And so we started talking
about what does it really mean if you
lose the SCADA system. And believe it or
not, well, so the Verizon outage the
other day was kind of a uhoh. We our our
skater system util utilizes cellular
technology. We were able to communicate
with it, but I had to get through
through to Andy using Facebook to call
him because I couldn't get through on
the cell phone.
>> So, yeah, that's that's going to be the
drill that we do in March to make sure
that we're clear on it.
>> Very good.
>> All right.
>> Um you said that you had some specific
jobs that still need to be um filled. Is
that correct?
>> Uh no, our so actually uh one of the
things and cover it in detail. One of
the things that we did from an employee
engagement perspective, we we knew that
our folks were on the low end of
compensation
um and and we went through we used an
association of environmental authorities
uh salary survey to help us get to the
right salaries for our folks and we also
leveraged that to get to the right level
for our union contracts. And so we think
we negotiated a fair deal for the union
and for us and for the first time in a
number of years we're fully staffed in
our field forces as well as in the
office.
>> Okay. And then you said there, did you
say 17 miles?
>> 17 17,000 linear feet.
>> 17,000 miles.
>> 17,000 lineal feet, not miles. Yeah.
Yeah. Three and a half miles. That's
that's a big difference. No, no, no.
>> Linear linear.
>> We're not that big of a utility.
Maybe we'll grow if we pick up all of
Laurelale. Maybe. And Misbah. But
>> so linear. Am I saying it right? Linear
>> linear feet. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah,
straight straight line feet. But it's
the cost to replace those lines is very
expensive.
>> And that's just the pre-1950 stuff. The
other challenge we have is some of the
stuff that was built built between 1950
and 1985 has reliability concerns for us
just because of the type of material
that was used at that time. So we're
we're navigating. That's why the 10-year
focus is so big for us. If we're if
we're too short with our view, we'll get
into trouble. as you can see just with
what what we would would have been up
against from a meeting the regulatory
compliance date trying to get into 20
30% rate increases.
>> Okay. Thank you so much.
>> I have a question with the the lead and
the galvanized piping that has to be
replaced. Is there grants and subsidies
to do that as well?
>> Yeah, there so grants not so much.
Although Jenny is going to reach out on
our behalf uh to to Congressman Vandrew
and see if there's anything. He just
recently had a a uh a grant that he got
for a municipality on the other side of
the state. Um so we're going to we're
going to leverage that. But what we have
done is in 2026 we're beginning the
engineering for our the the lines that
need to be replaced under that program
because that's a high priority for 2027
what they call principal forgiveness.
And the first step in that process is
you have to have the engineering done
and and be able to go to the state for
that principal forgiveness loan. So if
that happens, that's effectively a
grant, but there's a process to get
through that. We have started that. We
just we just authorized the engineering
in I think it was either January or
December. And so um Polycina Associates
is getting started on that engineering
for us.
>> Okay. Thank you.
>> Mhm.
>> Very good. Anything else?
>> Very good.
>> Thanks, D. I appreciate it. Sure.
>> Okay. Addition, deletion of late agenda
items.
I have additions 8D. Resolution
appointing Sue Hopkins as the class A
member of the Historic Preservation
Commission for a 4-year term expiring
123129
and deletions 12B executive session
police department staffing personnel.
>> So move.
>> I have a motion.
>> Second.
>> I have a second. All those in favor?
>> I
have it.
Early public comment.
>> Mayor, if I may, I was by the
administrator, we do have one additional
deletion
>> uh on the executive session. It's 12A
the team's contract.
>> Okay.
So, um we're going to delete executive
session teams contract negotiate
negotiations.
I have a motion.
>> Motion
>> second.
>> I have a motion to second. All those in
favor? I
>> against eyes have it.
>> All right.
>> Thanks, Brett. Good job.
>> Early public comment. Anybody signed up?
>> We have no one signed up.
Uh
discussions. We have no discussions.
Public hearing adoption of ordinances
ordinance 2126-2026
an ordinance to exceed the municipal
budget appropriation limits and to
establish a cap bank in accordance with
NJSA 4-4514.
This is a public hearing. Anybody from
the public wish to speak?
Come on down.
>> I I I disagree with with the budget
being exceeded.
>> Excuse me.
>> I I I disagree with the with the budget
being exceeded
>> cuz um you know how I
>> I don't want it to exceed either, Jen,
but it's probably going to happen.
You know how I am.
>> I Yes, I Yes, I do.
>> I blame lower taxes and a smaller
government.
>> Totally understand.
>> So, how much will all this is doing is
giving us the uh permission to exceed
what the budget cap is. That's all this
does. It's not saying that we're
definitely going to do that. It's giving
us the ability to do that.
That's all.
>> What does it affect my property taxes?
>> I have no idea. It's given us the
ability to to exceed the budget cap.
>> So, I don't I we don't know.
>> Okay.
>> If we don't do this, then we're tied to
2 and a half%.
>> Correct.
>> Yeah. So, we could exceed the the cap if
we have an emergency,
>> right?
>> Insurance.
>> Is it still 2%?
Uh, yes.
>> Cuz we got a new governor now.
>> All right.
>> Anybody else from public?
>> Motion to close.
>> Second.
>> Have a motion to second. All those in
favor?
>> I
had it.
What's our pleasure?
>> Motion second.
>> I have a motion in a second. Any
questions, comments,
read, can I get a roll call vote,
please?
>> Mr. Aken,
>> yes.
>> Mr. Chef,
>> yes.
>> Miss Thompson,
>> yes.
>> Dr. Witherspoon,
>> yes.
>> Mayor Patel,
>> yes.
>> All yes and adopted.
4B, public hearing, ordinance 2127-2026,
an ordinance authorizing a ground lease
between Hamilton Township and HIPP
Renewal LLC for block 994, lot 57. This
is a public hearing. Anybody from the
public wish to speak?
>> Motion to close.
>> Second.
>> I have a motion to second. All those in
favor? I
>> against eyes have it.
>> I'll make the motion.
>> I have a motion.
>> Second.
>> I have a second. Any
comments, questions?
>> Just one quick question. How and I
probably seen it because I'm looking at
the original lease. How long is this
lease for?
>> Three. Two years. Okay, that's it.
Anybody else?
>> Rita, can I get a roll call vote,
please?
>> Mr. Aken,
>> have you have to come up to the mic?
>> Out of order.
Since this property not become taxable
based on this lease. Am I correct?
Anybody know that would become taxable
line item? Who's paying the taxes?
>> As the tax collector, that's my concern.
We're going to have that added
assessment.
>> Yes.
>> I need to know who's paying tax.
>> It will become tax. Yes, it will become
tax.
>> I know. I know. But who's paying the
taxes?
>> Township is going to pay the township.
>> Redeveloper.
It would be hill taxes.
>> I I don't know. That's my question. Am I
mailing the tax bill to
>> because we're not taking it out of our
name. So, how do I know who I'm mailing
that bill to? I just want to make sure
it gets paid.
>> I would say it would be HIPP renewal.
>> I mean, does the lease say they are to
pay the taxes whatever they are when
they
>> It does. The lease does
>> it will be on it assessment for the
portion that's leased. So there will be
a tax bill. So I just have to because
we're not taking it out of our name. So
I just need to know where I'm sending
that bill to
>> you.
We will be the property will become tax.
>> Yes.
>> Talk about where the bills go.
>> Yeah. Because we're not going to pay
ourselves. So I just have to know where
the mail is. My concern is
>> okay. Thank you.
Roll call vote, please.
>> Mr. Aken,
>> yes.
>> Mr. Chief,
>> yes.
>> Miss Thompson,
>> yes.
>> Dr. Witherspoon,
>> yes.
>> Mayor Patali,
>> yes.
>> All yes and adopted.
>> Introduction of ordinances, we have
none. Award of bids, contracts, we have
none. Consent agenda.
Um,
I want to rem I want to pull 7F.
>> 7F.
>> Correct.
>> Motion 7 A through E and 7G through I.
>> Right.
>> Okay. I have a motion.
Do I have a second?
>> Did you second it?
>> I did.
>> Did you second it? I'm sorry.
>> All those in favor?
>> I against eyes have it. So 7F,
resolution establishing rules of order
and conduct for town committee meetings.
Uh we had our solicitor go over this.
This was an ordinance that was already
in place.
Went over it. Um,
and what it basically does, we adopt
Robert's rules of orders. And I'm just
going to go over regulations of
participation at township committee
meeting.
Upon recognation
recognition of a speaker by the chair of
the person wishing to speak during
public comment portion of township
meetings must state their name and
municipality of residents for the
record. All persons recognized by the
chair must engage in respectful and
orderly discourse in the event of
disrespectful, vulgar, or inflammatory
discourse. The chair may exercise
discretion and terminate the person's
right to speak. All statements to the
township committee or the administration
must be addressed through the chair.
Members of the public shall be given up
to five minutes to address an issue
during the public comment section of the
meeting and shall not be entitled to
borrow or give or otherwise allocate
their time to others at the discretion
of the chair and subject to the consent
by the majority of committee at a given
m meeting. This time allocation may be
relaxed and extended.
which relaxation, extension, or
suspension shall not constitute a
binding precedent for other speakers on
other issues. The limitations imposed
herein relate solely to the public
comment portion of the meeting and are
not intended to apply to the regular
business meeting.
Uh early public comment, all rules from
section B above apply. So, basically
what we're saying is we're going to
follow this um five minutes
public comment. Uh we will have a timer.
Correct?
>> We do have them.
>> And uh
I also suggest um when we have
our agenda, have these rules attached to
our agenda for whatever's up. I know we
leave some up there. Correct.
>> We we can post it also or we can we can
post it up on the
>> It's already back there from the last
time. These are the same rules. It's all
the same rules. Attaching it to the
agenda be difficult.
>> Okay. As long as you
can we can think of something else, you
know,
>> on our website.
question.
>> Okay. So, go ahead.
>> So, I know that the board of education
did something like this. Like I
mentioned the last time, they they
actually have a little blurb in their
agenda, not the full-blown Roberts, all
this information, just a little blurb,
you know, at the in the agenda that, you
know, speaks to this, you know. So I
just wanted to put that out there. I
don't know if there's something
consolidated we could put on the agenda,
you know, just
>> if you would like I can draft something
that's very short but concise
kind of advis.
>> Okay,
>> good.
>> I have a question.
Um, mayor
um B, it says upon recognition of a
speaker by the chair, the person wishing
to speak during a public comment portion
of township meetings must state their
name and municipality of residents for
the record. Are we going to open it up
for people outside?
>> We already do, correct?
>> I didn't realize that.
>> Yeah.
Anybody?
Any other questions?
>> A motion.
>> Motion.
>> Second.
>> Motion to second. All those in favor?
>> I
>> against eyes have it. Thank you.
Next we have personnel
>> resolution appointing Robert Watkins as
floodplane administrator for the year
2026.
>> So move
>> second motion in a second.
>> I need a roll call for this.
>> Roll call, please.
>> Mr. Aken,
>> yes.
>> Mr. Chief,
>> yes.
>> Miss Thompson.
>> Yes.
>> Dr. Witherspoon.
>> Yes.
>> Mayor Patel.
>> Yes.
>> Resolution rescending resolution 2026-
0035. A resolution appointing Stevenson
Malloy as an alternate two member of
Hamilton Township zoning board of
adjustment.
>> Motion second.
>> Motion a second.
>> All those in favor?
I
>> I against.
>> No.
No,
>> you said rescending it.
>> Yes, we have to resend it because he
can't be on two different on two.
>> Oh, I didn't I didn't realize he was on
two.
>> Yes.
>> Okay. Yes. Sorry about that.
>> 8C mayor's appointment to the
redevelopment review subcommittee for
the year 2026.
So that is our township administrator,
our community development director,
chief of police or designate,
zoning board chairman or designate,
planning board chairman or designate,
planning board planner, redevelopment
attorney, our tax assessor, and two
members of committee. And I'm going to
appoint myself and Richard.
>> So move.
>> Second.
>> Mayor.
>> Yeah, it's just Yeah, just the mayor's
appointment.
>> Just your appointment.
8 resolution appointing Sue Hopkins as
class A historic preservation commission
member for a 4-year term to expire
123129.
>> Motion
>> second.
>> I have a motion in a second.
Roll call. Roll call vote, please.
>> Mr. Aken,
>> yes.
>> Mr. Cheek,
>> yes. Miss Thompson,
>> yes.
>> Dr. Witherspoon,
>> yes.
>> Mayor Pati,
>> no.
>> Four yes. One no. Motion carries.
>> Approvals, minutes, reorganization,
and regular minutes, meeting minutes of
January 5th, 2026.
>> Some move.
>> Second.
>> Motion in a second. All those in favor
>> I
against eyes have it. Bills bill is
total 9,262,66163.
>> So move
>> second. Motion in a second. Roll call
vote, please.
>> Mr. Raen,
>> yes.
>> Mr. Chief,
>> yes.
>> Miss,
>> yes.
>> Dr. Witherspoon,
>> yes.
>> Mayor Pat,
>> yes.
reports. Mr. Administrator,
>> I have nothing to add.
>> Mr. Solicitor,
>> nothing to report this time.
>> Mr. Engineer,
>> nothing to report this tonight.
>> I have a question for you, though.
>> Then I'll be reporting. Go ahead.
>> Um, the work that's getting done on Lake
Drive,
>> correct?
>> Were residents supposed to be notified?
Um, they probably
don't have to be if it's not going to
interrupt their service, which I would
think that's the case. Um, obviously I
just found out about it and we'll be out
there tomorrow morning
>> and the traffic control will be set up.
>> I'm not sure if uh there's going to be
one lane of traffic or they need to shut
down that area. Uh, but we're going to
make sure the signage is up and that get
people in and out and school buses as
well.
That's all I can tell you as of right
now, but and then whatever restoration
of the roadway, um, if there's multiple
openings for that stretch, we'll have
them mill and pave that entire stretch.
>> I like the sound of that.
>> Okay, Township Committee members,
>> Dr. Witherspoon.
>> Yes, I have a report. Um I attended
along with um committeewoman Thompson
the Atlantic County League of
Municipalities meeting. Uh they were
talking about the traffic plan um at the
meeting and there's hasn't really been
any movement on Waymouth and I saw that
there was another accident fatality
which my condolences
to the family. Uh but I think that needs
to be looked at, you know, and um at
some point
um it's there's been some traffic for
other areas, but there's really haven't
been any action on that. So, I would
like to see that done, and I don't know
who's responsible to make sure that
that's looked at. Uh that was one of the
things. Also, at that meeting, I was um
nominated as second vice president of
the Laney County League of
Municipalities. So, that'll be voted on
on the next meeting. So, I was excited
about that. Um because I feel like I'm
representing the township.
All right. Um also on that Saturday,
Bob's Furniture is no longer an outlet
um furniture place. And of course, me
and U. Committee Woman Thompson went to
that event. It was very nice. It was
very, very nice. They had all of their
uh VIPs and everybody down for the
opening. It looks very nice on the
inside and um I was glad to be a part of
that opening
and then
went to the boxing event.
Uh I didn't know that we had such
I knew we had a lot going on, but I
didn't know about the boxing event. I
knew that they I thought they just
practiced. But to see those kids
um doing bouts uh it was very very
exciting. It was a nice crowd and um
they're doing an excellent job and it
was people from all over um the state
that came to participate in the bouts.
You really have to see this. And the um
township was presented with a belt.
Uh I don't know if committee woman um
Thompson brought it today. Um well he's
coming with it as we He's coming in. He
should be coming in any in a minute.
>> Okay. Originally he gave us the belt and
it was it's a beautiful belt. Uh
Committee Woman Thompson was able to get
inside the uh rink. Not that I couldn't.
I had on a skirt so I was not going to
lift my leg up and to be embarrassed,
you know, because I would had to lift it
up in order, you know, to get it in. I
just couldn't do that. But anyway, it
was a very very nice event and um just
to have something of that nature in
Hamilton Township.
Talks about the diversity of sports that
we have. I know about the football, the
hockey, the basketball, the soccer,
everything else. But to have the boxing
was a a really good thing cuz those kids
are they really work hard with them and
with the discipline and boy, they was
hitting them and I WAS GOING, "OH,
OH MY GOODNESS. I wasn't expecting that.
I really wasn't. But it was a very good
event. And last but not least, I did
attend the
uh inauguration of our 57th governor
Mikey Shur on yesterday and um it was a
very nice event. And again, somebody
wrote on my Facebook page, thank you for
representing um the township. So, as far
as I'm concerned, I was representing
Hamilton Township by being there on that
particular day. So, it was a wonderful
event and um that's my report.
>> Good. Thank you, Mr.
>> Aken.
Okay. So, I got a couple shout outs. Um
first, I want to shout out to Brett. Um
I called him today with a couple
questions and and concerns on the agenda
and he got back to me with the
information I needed. You know, he's
very quick. I don't know because I'm if
I'm the newbie, he's you know trying to
so but thank you very much. Um second uh
is shout out again to the tax collecting
office.
>> Nice report 99 over 99. I look at that
and I'm like, you know, I don't know
nothing about collecting taxes. I just
know about paying them, you know. So
that's that's awesome over there. That
that that's good stuff.
>> Don't pay them and you'll you'll
>> Well, I know. I know.
So,
so, um, over the past two weeks, I
attended, uh, three meetings. I, I
jumped in on the zoning board, um, which
was a hot one. Um, I wanted to meet and
introduce myself to all the members, so
I stayed till the end and did that, you
know, and, uh, I give the zoning board,
uh, credit. It's a hard job. You know,
you make decisions just like up here in
other boards. you know, not everybody's
gonna like the decision you make. You
gota agree to disagree, you move on, you
know, and, you know, that's all you can
do. So, I I do, you know, I do
>> give them credit. They had, you know,
this room was filled and they had a, you
know, they had to go through some stuff
to make decision they had to. So, um, my
second meeting was a little easier. It
was an MUA meeting. Uh, I think it was
maybe 20 minutes. I got there a little
late, but it ran smooth. I got to meet,
you know, every the board and the
director. Um, and introduce myself
again. Um, and the last meeting was last
night and it was a sustainability.
Yeah. And that was a a great great uh
bunch of people. Um, great ideas.
There's actually things, you know, that
I I should have been, you know, doing
long ago with the recycling. you know,
the plastics. I do recycle, but the bags
and stuff, they make the treks, you
know, it was you opened my eyes and I I
actually I mean, we're all here today,
too. I walked in with this and I was
like, "Oh, maybe I should
be just a little funny little joke." So,
but no, they were a great bunch and you
know I I'm I'm happy I went through that
and I'll definitely attend that meeting
again because like I said, great great
bunch of people and they open my eyes to
certain things that I know about cycle
and uh
>> very good.
>> Thank you,
>> Deputy Mayor Chief.
>> Thank you. I attended the zoning board
as well and it was a packed house with
standing room only and you have to
commend everybody that works on the
various boards.
The last couple weeks I did visit the
landfill that's moving forward which is
very nice to see that they're every day
are doing doing their job.
Then I went to the commissioner swearing
meeting for our ex mayor Shanker and saw
him getting sworn in as Atlanta County
Commissioner. That was very nice.
>> And then recently I've had surgery and
I've been very idle watching football
for the weekend.
And that's all I have.
>> Very good. Thank you,
>> Miss Thompson.
>> Committeewoman Thompson.
>> I like my title. I'm happy to be a
committee woman. Um, so there was a lot
going on since we last seen each other.
I want to first acknowledge um Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday for
this month and remember what he stood
for. Um, we know that to what the things
that he stood for is to bring justice,
love, and friendship. We must build
strong communities that foster these
things. As he eloquently stated, the
ultimate measure of a man is not where
he stands in moments of comfort and
convenience, but where he stands at
times of challenge and controversy.
Um, I also attended with Dr. Thema with
a spoon, the ribbon cutting at Bob's
Furniture. And, um, I'm going to put
their new location on the record. It's
2:30 Consumer Square because a lot of
people don't know where they're at. So,
it was 2:30
Consumer Square over by like a Target.
Um, we also attended um Aquafor Boxing
and Fitness Night. It was a show and um
their address as well because this is a
local uh business is 54 uh 5401 Harding
Highway here in Ma's Landing and that
was on January 17th. This event
highlighted athletic discipline and
community engagement through amateur
combat sports and um Dr. the D
Witherspoon
who definitely was not getting in the
ring. Um she was very supportive of me
getting in a ring which I was excited to
get in the ring and they called us up to
um give the awards because it was a real
tournament and it was beautiful. We gave
it belts and they also the the children
that did not win there about also got an
award so we were able to hang a award
and and present them with something. So
none of the children um that fought that
night didn't go without any kind of
award um or acknowledgement. I thought
that was beautiful. Um so another shout
out I want to give out to the chief of
police because I called him on his day
off and I was so sorry. And he was able
to tell me um I'm going to call you
back. I'm going to look into an incident
that was happening in my neighborhood
and I really appreciated him doing that.
So, I really wanted to give him that
shout out. Um Brett always answers the
calls and he always gets back for me.
He's good. He's very professional and um
I've called him to last minute and and
asked him a couple um questions,
you know, not just concerning the
agenda, but what's going on in the
community and he was very effective and
and um he definitely was very
professional about getting back to me
and that's it.
>> Very good. Thank you.
>> Before you go on, the the owner of that
boxing is here and he wants to present a
belt.
>> Yeah. when they was going to I just told
them when they said public conference.
>> Well, I was just saying since you
finished and talking about it, I was
>> Can you come up now?
>> Yeah, you come up now.
>> Okay, you can come up now.
>> Come on down and give present the belt.
>> Evening everybody.
>> Good.
>> I'm standing here. My name is David
Guing. I'm from Ghana and I've been
migrant here for past like almost 30
years and finally I find myself in Miss
Lending and I want to say God bless you
all for the kind of how Miss Lending
Township welcome me as a stranger and
say God bless America. America is a land
opportunity and I find myself
opportunity for hardworking people such
like me came with empty-handed
start from zero to get to talk and end
of the day I find myself my first
business which of four years here in
Miss Lenny that is amazing through your
love through your hard work make me to
be where I am. So last week Saturday I
have a show in my facility that she
mentioned it earlier on that is normally
I do show like this my 14th show people
from Michigan Florida and many more come
together for the show and on my four
years over here that is I have a
beautiful belt here to present it to the
city without you I cannot be where I am
for four years. The city of love, the
city of unity. So I'm here today to
present this beautiful bed to every one
of you.
>> Thank you so much. Thank you.
>> Would you like us to come down?
>> Mayor,
she can go down. Go ahead. Go get it.
>> No, you were there. I didn't make it.
>> I mean, I was there, too. But I thought
the mayor must come down there and get
the belt, too.
Yes, please.
All right.
Nice.
That's so nice.
>> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank
you.
Thank you.
>> I got it.
>> I remember when you opened. I'm so glad
you're so successful. Very good.
So Brett has Brett said he's going to
work on um
>> Brett
Brett has told me that there is I think
we had Brett you can speak on this
because you said there was a um some
kind of uh built-in space.
>> So we'll we'll put it out in our display
case in
>> out here. Very good.
>> So they're going to put it in the
display case right here in the township.
Okay. So when you come back and come
back to more meetings, you and your
family and friends can come back because
the tournament was beautiful and it was
it was not just a local tournament. He
had people come from New York. He had
people from other states that came and
it was very professional. You know, he
had a you know the how can I say
referees and people on each side. So, I
really was I was really happy um to see
what he presented
>> and I'm I'm sure that we'll love to see
the video once you get to put that
together. Anybody you wasn't there get a
chance.
>> Yes, we are definitely going to have a
video put together
>> and we'll definitely get that to you and
we'll have that on our Facebook pages
and market it also for you. Okay. Thank
you so much.
and uh just like to say he started out
over at the festival in a smaller
building and built his business and was
able to move over to the uh health park
over there on Route 40. So great job
with that and uh congratulations. You
guys are doing very very well. Um
yeah, that's so
busy couple of weeks with uh planning
board and zoning board. A lot of things
going on in town. Um, so big shout out
to everybody who's on those boards.
Really appreciate it. Um, I really don't
have a whole lot to say. I will say, uh,
looks like we got another snowstorm that
seemed to be coming on Sundays. Um, so
puts a little bit of restrain on our
public works guys, but they always do a
good job. You did I got no phone calls
in the last little event, so good job
there. And I just like to say this one
looks like it might be uh a little bit
bigger. So, please, if you can, park
your vehicles off the road. Um, stay off
the road, let our guys get through,
clean things up, uh, so they can do
things safely and efficiently and, uh,
and move on from there. And, uh, yeah,
if you guys, if everybody could do that,
that'd be great. And help help out our
public works guys. And that's really all
I have to say. Uh, Reagan, see you soon.
Maddie, I miss you and I love you and I
hope to see you soon. And we will go
ahead and open it up to the public.
Come on down.
Do
>> you know how how many inches of snow
we're going to get?
>> How many? No idea.
>> They don't have an idea.
>> I'd say zero to 50.
>> No, I have I have no idea. They don't
know. Yeah,
>> but it definitely looks like we're going
to get some snow and it's going to be
cold.
>> Yeah,
>> I heard um at least four inches.
>> I hope it's that low. Yeah.
>> Hope hope that's all we get.
>> I hope so.
>> I'm ready for spring.
>> Ditto.
>> Come on down. I was just waiting to see
if anybody else wanted to take a turn.
>> Alen Dicks
>> from what town?
>> I'M NOT
GOING TO SAY IT TOO. Where are you from?
>> And I'm not anonymous 620 for what's
getting posted on Facebook which is very
very seriously concerning.
No heat in rooms in a Hes school. No
more not saying anything else.
Today's an anniversary. Anybody know
what it is?
50 years of Open Public Meetings Act.
50 years of discussing the public's
business in the public
with very limited
things that are for executive session
like negotiations, litigation.
I'll stop at that.
This was one of the sessions I attended
at the league. I I think I did four
sessions. One on alternate alternate
unit something some new idea the don't
try to guess what it is because it's
complicated.
Budget and audit. I saw Nick there. D on
water
and open public meetings act that I had
to be there at nine o'clock in the
morning.
The biggest surprise at the public
meetings act lecture with these expert
lawyers from around the state one was
from Parker Mccay I think his name was
Gford but I'm not sure on that.
So when you go to executive session,
if you take somebody in that's not you
and maybe not him and him, if you take
somebody else in, it's no longer an
executive session.
Feel free to check it out. But that was
a big surprise to me.
That was the big surprise. Not not a big
surprise,
but it's something we need to know so it
doesn't happen and then you're forced to
re publicize you. You get my point.
Carl, what's going on Lake Drive?
>> Gas line.
>> The renewal
>> replacing. Yeah.
>> Okay.
because I see trucks going by and I see
dump truck go by full of sand going down
Park Road and it didn't have a cover on
it.
>> Yeah, that wasn't for that. They haven't
even started.
>> All right, that's all I just wanted to
comment on the because when I attended
that schoolboard meeting 50 years ago,
oh, they were squirming in their seats.
They didn't want to talk about what they
didn't want to talk about in public and
now they had to. It I'll never forget
it. obviously, but it was crazy. So now
you know, but Ken might want to find
out. Um,
okay. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Anybody else?
>> Motion to close.
>> Second.
>> I have a motion in the second. All those
in favor? I
>> I against
>> motion to to close the meeting.
>> You made it.
>> Sure, I'll make the motion.
>> There you go. Second.
>> Motion to second. All those in favor? I
>> against