05-18-2026 - Township of Hamilton Committee Meeting

I like to bring the Monday, May 18th,
2026 Township of Hamilton
Committee meeting to order. Please rise
for the flag.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
Adequate notice of this meeting has been
provided [clears throat] 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,
Star-Ledger, and Atlantic County Record
on January 6th, 2026.
Mr. Aiken? Here. Mr. Cheek?
>> Here. Ms. Thompson? Here. Dr.
Witherspoon?
>> Here. Mayor Patalia? Here.
We have a moment of silence for private
reflection.
Thank you.
Proclamations we have none. Guest
presentations we have none.
Addition deletion of late agenda items,
we have
additions. 8A business registrations.
Boot Barn Incorporated, Consumer Square
Shopping Center.
That's Work Western Clothing, boots,
accessories.
Two, Cape Country Living LLC, 6953
Harding Highway, home furnishings,
furniture, kitchen dealer.
Three, Jack Lyon, transient vendor
license, equipment auction at ACRC.
June 20th, 2026 through 7 through July
3rd, 2026. And 13C, executive session.
Proposal to negotiate cell tower lease
agreements, contract negotiations.
I have a motion. Motion. Second. I have
a motion and a second. All those in
favor? Aye. Against?
Eyes have it.
Appointment of municipal clerk.
A resolution to appoint Jane Bausch
as our municipal clerk.
I have a motion. So moved. Second. I
have a motion and a second.
Roll call.
Please. Mr. Aiken. Yes. Mr. Cheek. Yes.
Ms. Thompson. Yes. Dr. Witherspoon. Yes.
Mayor Patelli. Yes.
>> Oh, yes.
And moving on to
the administration of the oath of
office to Jane Bausch as our new
township clerk
for a 3-year term effective June 1st,
2026 through May 31st, 2029.
>> [clears throat]
>> Raise your right hand.
Raise your right hand and repeat after
me for the oath. I, Jane Bausch, do
solemnly swear I, Jane Bausch, do
solemnly swear that I will support the
Constitution of the United States that I
will support the Constitution of the
United States and the Constitution of
the state of New Jersey and the
Constitution of the state of New Jersey
and that I will bear true faith and
allegiance and that I will bear true
faith and allegiance to the same and to
the governments established in the
United States to the same and to the
governments established in the United
States. And in this state under the
authority of the people.
And in this state under the authority of
the people.
I do further solemnly swear I do further
solemnly swear that I will faithfully
that I will faithfully impartially
>> impartially and justly perform all
duties
and justly perform all the duties
>> of the office of township clerk of the
office of township clerk of township
Hamilton
>> of the township of Hamilton for the term
for the term June 1st, 2026 June 1st,
2026 through May 31st, 2029 through May
31st, 2029 according to the best of my
ability according to the best of my
ability so help me God. So help ME GOD.
CONGRATULATIONS.
>> [applause]
[applause]
>> CONGRATULATIONS.
CONGRATULATIONS. THANK YOU.
>> Welcome aboard. Thank you.
Uh
Are we public comment? We have Maria
Newman for 4B.
That is all.
Good evening, Township of Hamilton
committee um members. Thank you for
allowing me the opportunity to speak. My
name is Maria Newman. I reside at 2317
Primrose Court in Mays Landing. I'm here
this evening to address the Township of
Hamilton Committee on a matter of urgent
public concern, the threat that data
centers pose to our community and offer
a true solution that hopefully this
committee would seriously consider. I
come before you not only as a resident
who cares deeply about this Township,
but as someone who has been closely
following developments in our region
that directly affect the health, safety,
and quality of life and people of the
people like myself who call Hamilton
Township home. I would like to talk to
you tonight about data centers, what
they are, what they do to the
communities around them, and what
neighboring municipalities are already
doing to protect their residents. I
truly would like to encourage and
propose that the Township of Hamilton
would do the same. What is a data
center? A data center is a physical
facility that houses and runs large
computer systems. They require
round-the-clock cooling systems to
manage temperature and humidity, backup
generators in case of power outages, and
in some of cases turbines for power
generation. These facilities operate 24
hours a day, 7 days a week, and that
constant operation comes with serious
consequences. A data center under
construction right now near my
environment has already raised alarms
among residents and community organizers
throughout South Jersey. The concerns
are not hypothetical, they're
documented, they're measurable, and with
serious consequences and a true impact
to the surrounding community quality of
life. What data centers do to
communities? First, your utility bills.
According to an analysis by Bloomberg,
in states with a high concentration of
data centers like Virginia, electricity
prices have increased as much as 267%
over just the last 5 years. Why? Because
utilities must proactively deploy
expensive infrastructure, power lines,
transformers, and pay premium market
rate prices for energy. That cost gets
passed directly to residents and small
businesses. Second, water consumption.
New Jersey is currently under a drought
warning as of April 3rd, 2026 according
to New Jersey Department of
Environmental Protection. This is not
the time to invite facilities that
consume water at extraordinary rates. A
mid-size data center consumes as much
water as a small town. Larger ones
require up to 5 million gallons of water
every day, the equivalent of a city of
50,000 people. For context, a Meta data
center planned in Wyoming will use more
electricity than every home in that
entire state combined. We cannot afford
to share our most limited resources with
facilities of this scale.
After that, data centers generate
significant noise pollution, primarily
from diesel generators and HVAC systems.
Internal noise levels can reach up to 96
decibels, which is well above the 85
decibel threshold that is considered
harmful to human hearing. This is a
health hazard and the air pollution is
truly alarming. Exposure to data centers
air pollutants have been linked to
hospitalizations, emergency room visits,
increased medication use, lost school
days, and lost work days. A recent
scientific model projected that US data
centers by the year 2030 could
contribute to nearly 300 deaths
annually, representing a public health
burden of more than $20 billion. These
are not statistics about faraway places.
This is our backyard and these kinds of
outcomes we are inviting
We are inviting in if we do not act now.
Our neighbors have already taken action
and local governments in Logan and
Monroe Township and the city of
Millville have introduced and passed
ordinances to ban data centers in order
to protect their residents.
Municipalities in Camden,
Cumberland, Gloucester, and throughout
South Jersey are moving to address this
threat at the local level. The Township
of Hamilton should not be left behind
and our residents should not be left
unprotected.
Tonight, I am respectfully asking this
Township Committee to take a bold and
necessary step, pass a resolution in
support of banning data centers in the
Township of Hamilton. Such a resolution
would send a clear message that this
committee prioritizes health, safety,
and financial well-being of our
residents. It would align Hamilton
Township with the growing movement of
South Jersey communities who are
refusing to allow these facilities to
take root without regard for the people
who live nearby. We have an opportunity
to get ahead of this issue before a data
center is
proposed, excuse me, for our township.
Before the construction begins, before
the noise starts, before the water bills
climb, and before the health
consequences set in. So, I ask you
tonight, members of the Township of
Hamilton Committee, is a resolution to
ban data centers in the Township of
Hamilton something you would consider
supporting? Our residents are watching,
our neighbors are acting, and the time
to protect Hamilton Township is now,
before we are forced to react rather
than to leave. Thank you.
Thank you.
Anybody else?
That's it?
Okay, thank you.
Moving on.
Discussions for more action may be
taken.
Presentation of the 2026 capital program
and introduction of the 2026 capital
bond ordinance. Brett?
So, the 2026 municipal budget provides
the required 5% funding for a $2 million
capital ordinance. Um
$2 million it takes about $100,000
in money
through our operating budget to fund
this.
Uh this year we're looking to improve
roadways um
in the town. Several road We're actually
working on uh phase one of this year's
road program. We're going to go out
later on in the uh uh summer for phase
two. Hopefully pave in the fall.
Uh we have several roads and drainage
improvements to make.
We're also looking uh into recreation
planning and expansion out at the leafy
tract
and
uh
also into some public works equipment.
So, this year we're looking to pave uh
about 1.2 5 million in roads. This would
be part of the phase This would be the
phase two program.
Phase one is, like I said, currently
underway. Most of this was Most of phase
one was funded last year through last
year's capital plan.
I I talk about this every year, money
that we've gotten in grants throughout
the years to fund um
roads to offset the taxes that we
set aside for
paving.
This year we're going to be using
206,000
in
NJDOT funds for Babcock Road.
We also got
DOT money for sidewalks along Dennis
Foreman Drive. We're actually applying
for phase two to extend those out beyond
the need.
We also got $188,000
this past
I guess we got it in the
We just We just got that. Actually, it's
um
Misper Road. That's a Misper
Misper Road phase one. Got $188,000.
Right now we're putting a design
together to go out to bid.
Uh we do plan on using some of the 1.2
to extend out the
phase one Misper Road to try to get a
little bit more paving out there.
Uh so, this year we're going to use
527,000
grant money towards
our road paving program.
We plan on
uh
out at Leafy Tract, we plan on building
a third hockey court. Uh,
Bob's actually looking into the design
for a third hockey court.
What it would take to illuminate a third
hockey court.
Uh, scoreboards.
The other thing that we're looking to do
out at Leafy is an 88 playground similar
to what we're going to do at the Cove,
but a little bit larger
in size of the facility.
And
we believe this is going to
include the decks, the deck system,
and
what else do we
the walking path.
And the walls right and the walls around
the court itself.
We're going to purchase uh a new dump
truck for public works this year. So,
public works
breaks the town down into seven
sections. We just break it down into
five. We break it down into public works
breaks it down into seven. Right now we
have six dump trucks. We had one go out
of service here this year and it was
actually auctioned. We need to replace
that. It was a 2005.
Uh, we're going to
use $150,000 from capital and then
100,000 in our snow reserve fund. We
have roughly half a million dollars in
there.
Um, we put around $125,000 a year into
that fund.
We did have a tough winter, but we we do
have extra money in there that we could
use towards
towards this truck. Essentially, it's
it's a pay as you go
um, using, you know,
township funds instead of going out and
bonding for the whole vehicle.
As I talked about at the last meeting,
we're going to purchase an outfit two
police interceptors. This was not This
was pulled out of this year's capital
program and put into the pay-as-you-go
program.
160,000 dollars that we won't have to
fund this year.
We also pulled out 45,000 dollars for an
admin vehicle that we're we're going to
replace for planning and zoning
So, if you wish tonight, we'll introduce
the capital budget. The next meeting,
June 1st, we'll have the public hearing
and if there's no amendments, we can
adopt.
And roughly 20 days after adoption,
around on or about June 22nd, we'll be
able to spend those funds.
Any questions?
Comments?
Nothing?
Do I hear a motion to introduce the
um
budget ordinance 2136-2026?
So moved. Second.
I have a motion and a second.
Roll call vote, please.
Mr. Aiken?
Yes.
>> Mr. Cheek? Yes. Ms. Thompson? Yes.
>> Dr. Witherspoon? Yes. Mayor Patelli?
Yes.
>> Oh, yes.
Thank you.
Moving on.
Robert Goodman is going to give us a
presentation
on data centers.
Uh this is something that that
we've been kind of bouncing back and
forth now. Robert gave this presentation
to the uh
subcommittee, the uh redevelopment
subcommittee uh like 2 weeks ago, I
think it was. Correct. And uh I believe
you made a couple of adjustments and uh
go ahead and make that presentation to
all of us. So, it's um
this is a little bit more along the
dialogue line in that sense that it's
going to provide a little bit
more dialogue about what the incipient
risks are with uh data centers. We had a
short conversation with Councilwoman
Witherspoon beforehand, explaining the
framework that
if this is something we have to respond
to, and you know, we certainly see that
there's a lot of public interest here,
and even yesterday the governor was uh
you know, speaking about this very
issue.
So, it's very possible that, you know,
there could be action be taken at the
legislative level.
In the absence of that, uh we believe
that Hamilton Township should
take a pause,
study,
and understand the issue.
Um as as we know, and and I've been
advised, you know, outright prohibitions
could be challenged in court.
Uh if we take this approach, and we take
a, you know, a careful, due diligent
period for study and research, and
understanding,
we can go through a phased process, and
decide, you know, whether we're going to
prohibit or allow with prohibitions,
or allow with specific standards.
So, let me walk through this, and um
explain it. The idea is that we should
be prepared,
and not overreact to a lot of uh the
risks that we're seeing in other
communities, and obviously, you know,
what we've heard a lot about what
happened over in Vineland has, you know,
been somewhat unsettling, and this is
not anything we would look to repeat.
And if we were to allow something like
this, it has to earn the public trust
and accountability
uh before them.
So,
>> [sighs]
>> really, I see this at a high level, uh
you know, in terms of just evaluating
the correct policy to support it,
define the rules before an application
defines them for us.
Um
risk control, should understand what the
current capacity is,
what the environmental and cost impacts
would be before we make any commitment
along these lines.
And I see this as a four-path
route and and that's just a
start with a pause, step back, do the
appropriate study with our professionals
and what standards are out there,
and start forming the early framework
and scaffolding of what would be good
policy if we had to respond to a data
center application coming before us.
So, as part of this, you know, it
you know, we belabor this, but I just
wanted to just kind of simply say that
we're look we're evaluating whether and
how data centers should be considered.
This is not approving development. This
is to give the governing body the
framework to understand what needs to be
decided, what the risks are, can they be
mitigated,
and then, again, through a gated process
decide to either continue along that
path
or come up with an ordinance that has
limited prohibition or full prohibition.
Now,
my impression
and and I think we're mostly prone to
this because we are the largest
land area township in the state of New
Jersey,
and I can tell you that there's a lot of
technology companies who are taking a
look at that who would be investing in
data centers.
And just understanding that, you know,
we're kind of a high pro- profile for
development.
What's driving this is AI demand,
and, you know, we don't think that
we may have, you know, municipalities
that prohibit it,
but the future's going to go ahead. No
one's going to stop using their cell
phones and the computing power behind
it.
So, if we have to step into the future,
let's do it on terms that we know won't
be, you know, dangerous to our own
uh residents.
Anyway, as it stands today, we don't
have any hard and fast rules um around
data centers. Um nobody has approached
us to date,
um but that could change.
In terms of the gap,
is
what we lack today is we don't have any
defined standards
around this. And very few communities
have actually uh
done this work. There's kind of loose
threads of it starting to emerge.
I myself have identified at least 18
engineering standards that could
mitigate these risks, but it doesn't
give you the complete picture.
We have to work in cooperation with
power and utility providers to be able
to enable a technology of this scale.
Uh it's pretty clear to me that Atlantic
City Electric doesn't have that capacity
today to support it.
Um
Anyway, the problem is that
an application could be advanced before
standards are adopted.
I think if we give an appropriate time
for studying research,
you know, we may be on the vanguard of
being able to identify what those
standards are, what they should be,
and how we can kind of protect ourselves
from any liability and the risk of any
tort from an unfocused application
coming in for a data center.
It's going to impact energy,
noise,
as what the one lady in advised.
You know, there's millions of dollars of
water that are usually charged into a
closed-loop system like this
uh that are permanently taken out of
you know, supply.
And I have to remain so in order to be
able to keep the cooling standards up.
And then there's just the bigger issue
about who's paying for all this.
You know, what we've seen in other
communities, uh
we saw this as early as maybe about a
dozen years ago when
you know, cyber
cyber mining started to take place in
the Bitcoin frenzy.
And
we built these huge Bitcoin mining
facilities data
and all the all the expense ended up
going on to the rate payers.
Not to the developer. So, we don't want
to see cost shift like that happen. If
somebody wants to come in and build a
data center,
they're going to have to pay for the
infrastructure to support it.
Anyway, [clears throat] again, I'm
advising that we do not rush. We do not
overreact.
Let us get a framework around this. Let
us define the rules and keep everyone
informed about
if this is going to happen, how it will
happen, and if it doesn't, what we're
going to limit and how it'll be limited.
Again, I see this as four phases. I see
an initial phase whereby which we're
going to spend a lot of focused time on
studying and researching. I'd like to be
able, you know, if you approve this
measure tonight, be able to come back in
about 2 months' time and give you a
report on where I think
we need to go and what we need to focus
on.
And then an additional anywhere from 2
months to 4 months
to really give it a very, very rigorous
study.
Um, and from that, I think we can start
seeing the initial framework of what
policy would be involved.
Um,
there's two ways we could do this. We
could draft an ordinance with those
technical standards. That's very, very
involved. Um, probably um, with some
discussions I had with our solicitor
today, you know, it might be better to
actually have something that is like a a
standards manual
that applicants would have to abide by
and just change the ordinance saying
that anybody who does a data center has
to abide by this standard and that's
going to be a little bit more flexible
than
trying to dump all these standards into
the ordinance.
Anyways, my thinking is that sometime by
the end of the year we'll have enough
information to have studied this
completely, established policy if this
is the direction that mayor and council
would like to go
and come up with a decision.
So again,
pause ordinance,
prevent if we do something along the
lines of a ordinance now or in the next
meeting or so, an ordinance that would
provide a moratorium or even a
resolution that could support a study
period,
um that will buy us time to get all the
study and research done that we need to
do
and it also shield us somewhat from, you
know, any data center developer coming
in and, you know,
putting a speculative application before
we're ready to even take a look at it.
Uh this will uh again create more time
for due diligence and
you know, we can say that we took our
time to come up with the right policy
to support this.
In terms of what we'd have to study, you
know, there's four pillars I see that
really have to be addressed. One is
the available capacity that the
utilities would be able to provide and
in what time frame they could do it. I
think the honest truth is, this is my
initial take here is that
it could take as much as 5 to 10 years
before ACE would be ready to be able to
support this business.
Um I'd be very surprised if they they
could build out that fast with all the
given demands that they have today.
There's also the idea of, you know, if
we were to allow this, what would be
considered a suitable site? Well, you
know, the industrial business park comes
to mind. It's an all commercial area
uh that is currently zoned for light
industrialization.
Uh it has a natural buffer to homes and
schools.
And uh the parcel size are large that
could support a data center.
The other issues that we have to study
is obviously around the water cooling,
the noise, and uh the potential sound
that these things can generate.
And uh also
I think in this process we'll probably
have a much greater awareness of who's
actually doing this work in the
marketplace. And they're really starting
to take a look at their performance in
terms of how they do this in the
communities where they are and what
they're managing.
Anyway,
so there's a couple of tools that I see
that would be needed. One is a utility
impact study and this is really one of
the key questions that have to be asked
up front for any developer thinking of
bringing a data center anywhere. Uh
how can this be supported in terms of
the power generation required to operate
such a thing?
Uh
you know, the questions that really have
to be answered with the load profile
would look like and
and what peak demand would look like.
What's the existing current capacity
today?
What upgrades are needed to be able to
just deliver the power where it's
needed?
And uh you know, what does that timeline
look like? The biggest question out of
coming out of this is who pays?
And as a principle of policy, it should
not be spread upon the ratepayers and
residents
of Hamilton Township.
The The next um
element that I see is and it's it's
really more of a fabrication out of
whole cloth and
for lack of anything else that I can
find out there, but I see something that
would be called an infrastructure
investment study in cooperation with the
utility impact study. This is the one
where we'd really be taking a hard look
at the standards to support the type of
operation that would be tolerable.
We'd be taking a look at what cooling
systems are involved, what impact this
may have on waste water or gray water
systems um you know, within the
township. What impact this would have on
transportation, uh not only within a
site, but how it impacts it around the
site.
Environment as was noted earlier, you
know, some of the noise of these places,
especially those that have cogeneration
on site, the noise can raise itself
pretty loud and can be heard quite a
distance.
We also just have to understand, you
know, what
you know, is there going to be a net
cost
of being able to have this type of
business in the town and sure that it's
not negative.
Anyway, again,
this is something and this is where I've
done a lot of the study where I believe
that a lot of the engineering standards
could
take care of a number of risks that are
associated with this, but they'd have to
be defined by the developer before we
even get to a place where we can even
consider it as a business.
In terms of what I see as a deliverable
at the very end of this is uh
understanding the existing conditions,
what the
utility impact standard would tell us
about local power producers.
The uh standard that I just
proposed before would give us a clear
picture about infrastructure cost and
what risk are being mitigated
through approach of those practices.
Uh
approving what sites would be allowed if
we were to allow them here in the
township and then work all that into
drafting a framework ordinance to
support this.
And uh
again, at the end of the day, you'll
have the option to allow, limit, or
prohibit based on that, but you'll have
it fully informed.
I won't belabor these, but these are the
key risks that I see.
Grid capacity, ratepayer cost, uh you
know, water cooling
and again just the accountability that's
required before the public
if
we have to contend with applications
that want to do this type of
development.
And we have to understand what the
possible paths are in mitigating those
concerns.
So in terms of actual [sighs] policy
development and
getting behind this, we we would have to
basically define data centers as a
rather distinct use. It's different than
any other type of commercial or
industrial uh
you know, development that we've seen to
date.
Again, that it has some
similarities to uh cyber, you know,
Bitcoin mining. Uh but these are much,
much larger.
And uh on a scale that's really quite
different.
We also just have to be very careful
about where we would allow these, how
many would be allowed these.
You know, we'd have to have these
studies, the utility impact statement as
well as the infrastructure assessment
that, you know, is standard that they
have to meet.
And ensure that this cost of development
doesn't again fall upon the rate payers,
you residents of Hamilton Township.
So again at the end of the day, my my
belief is that if we follow this road
map and this path and address these
issues
you'll be Mayor Council should be in a
good position to make an informed
decision about which way to go.
And the way I see it right now is to
allow
with strict conditions
and again mitigating any risk involved
limit the scale of these potential
applications which may make it
unattractive for developers, but
you know, it's our town. We we get to
set the standards.
Or you can do as others, although it
does possibly run the risk of tort
liability,
is prohibit them outright. But, they'll
be informed and be able to reduce so.
At this point, I'll open it up to mayor
and council if there are questions or
areas of discussion that you'd like to
understand better.
All right. So,
in talking with Ken and and and Robert,
like right now, if somebody were to come
in and wanted to build a data center, as
long as it met everything zoning-wise,
there's really nothing we could do to
stop it. Because we don't have anything
The The risk is that we make a we make a
bad decision through the board. That's
the risk. And then that would get that
would invite litigation.
>> And that's that's what we're trying
to avoid here. That's correct, Mayor. As
you see data centers emerging throughout
the state and the country, it's better
to be proactive rather than reactive.
And because we don't have anything in
front of committee or the planning board
at this point in
application.
This will allow, if you chose to move
forward, to put a temporary moratorium
so that we can look into all of the
potential issues that you see that are
popping up in places that are putting
data centers or building review, whether
it be environmental impacts, social
impacts, financial impacts. There's a
lot that could go into it. So, by
allowing us to slow down, take a closer
look at this, it will allow us to be
able to create those set of standards
here at Apple Township and codify that
by ordinance so that we have the ability
to address it if we got an application
rather than scrambling
the one that when it comes
And on the other hand, if we just came
out right now and said, "No,
we're not doing
data centers."
They could We could get sued because we
didn't do our due diligence. And why did
you decide that? Am I wrong in Anytime
that you do a blanket prohibition,
especially for something, whether it be
business-related or any ordinance going
forward, it's always my recommendation
to any municipality to take the
opportunity to do a full due diligence,
determine whether there should be a full
prohibition, or it should be modified,
or it should just be open completely.
Um there's no harm in doing a temporary
due diligence prohibition
uh because we have the ability to go
through and obviously with the
professionals and your your staff being
able to come back and advise you, give
you your the informed opinion so that
you can make a decision based on that
rather than rushing through and having a
prohibition
that has to do
with potential challenges.
So, it would be my advice as well
speaking for the zone and also for the
legal team this evening
uh to do something that would be
temporary so we can determine whether
you wanted to go full prohibition,
restricted modification, or say we
didn't want to take any steps.
Now, we could do a resolution,
moratorium, and that and that would just
be till the end of this year.
And at at that time hopefully we would
have enough information to
move forward with an ordinance,
or we could do another resolution
giving us more time. That's correct,
Mayor. Was that
You hear me at say an ordinance would
cost
Ordinance is is
You don't want to do a bad ordinance.
That that's correct. So, It'd cost
money. Ordinance obviously has a a
a more financial burden on the township
than a resolution would be.
Um an ordinance is a much more permanent
even though it could be repealed than a
resolution. A resolution sunsets at a
certain period of time. So, if anyone
was to move forward with a temporary
moratorium per se till the end of the
year, uh then we could obviously
readdress it at that time. We could
always readdress it early, uh but it
would give us that due diligence period
to get a little bit more. So, if the
committee as part of this discussion
wanted to direct us to move forward, we
would have something whether it be a
resolution or some sort of quasi
ordinance next meeting to be able to
come in front of you and say, "This is
what we recommend." And then we'd be
able to answer your questions
I believe that we're pursuing and
looking to do a temporary resolution at
this point in time. With the thought
process of doing something we wanted to
do, you know, full probation or a
modified probation in the future, an
ordinance that would codify into our
standards here in town.
Anybody else have any questions,
comments?
Yeah, I have a uh
whole bunch of questions, comments. I'm
just trying to
get it all together because this is a
lot. Um
I kind of did my own little study here
and I'm going to just read some stuff
that I highlighted.
Um concerning these data centers in New
Jersey.
Um
So, I have here data centers are driving
up
electricity
>> [laughter]
>> prices
for families and small businesses.
And uh
lawmakers can require them to pay more
to offset those increases.
But as it stands right now, there are no
safeguards in place.
Um
cuz of
AI data centers, communities are facing
higher costs, a more unreliable grid,
more pollution,
and a lack of transparency that makes
holding these companies accountable
nearly impossible.
New Jersey families and small businesses
are already paying
to sub- subsidize them through higher
electric bills.
Uh
Data centers use a significant amount of
energy be-
but lack
but because of a lack of transparency
and energy reporting, exact data is
unavailable and the energy usage of data
centers can vary widely.
Precise water usage figures are
difficult to verify because data center
companies are not required to report
them publicly.
This lack of transparency is a problem
for a state that has experienced several
droughts in recent years including the
2024,
the 2025 drought that resulted in crop
losses and increased wildfire risk.
Plus we have
uh farms here in Hamilton Township.
So my point, where I stand with the data
center situation
is that I
don't want a data center in Hamilton
Township. I don't even need to
sugarcoat it.
I want to be very transparent. I don't
want a data center here in Hamilton
Township.
Um I would like to
see if
my colleagues would like to create an
ordinance making it a law that they
can't come here like they've done in
various other
municipalities throughout New Jersey.
And I'm saying this because I'm
concerned about the quality of life
the amount of money that their
working families here would have to put
out to um
accommodate this this uh these
electricities, the water cooling, the
water bill it's ridiculous. The
environment itself we First of all,
Hamilton Township protects the
pinelands. So that's the situation. I
mean we need to consider everything. So
I'm not going to sit up here and say we
need to
do more research, we need to think about
it, we need to you know hold off and
everything else. No, I don't want the
data center here. I think we should
create ordinance
um making it a situation where it does
not come here at all and that's where I
stand at so you guys can say where you
stand at.
But, that's where I'm at with it. I'm on
the record for saying that.
Rich.
So, my thoughts, uh I love the
presentation. Like I said, they're new
and upcoming these data centers. So,
again, we don't know the ins and outs.
Um
I'm not totally against. I like the
pause where you're saying for a year, I
guess you guys were talking to get some
information together. And then, when
that information comes to us, we can
decide whether we want to move forward
or prohibit or limit. And I I like that
idea cuz
you know, I
technology is moving quick. Like I said,
and who knows down the road if things
will change, you know, to where these
centers are needed and they're changed
to where they're better than these new
ones that are coming out. Maybe
something's going to be different. So,
like I said, with the pause and finding
out the information, um I'm
I like that and I think that's the right
direction. Uh you know, I don't know
legal-wise, like we were talking, if we
were to kill this totally
somebody could come and, you know,
possibly sue us or something else. So,
like I said, I I like the pause to find
the information on it and then move
forward from there.
Yeah, and I just also just state, you
know, I call this breaking down into
four phases. You know, where we're going
to have some definition around this.
And these are your options. At any one
of those, we could get to 60 days from
now and come before you with a report.
And, you know, you don't like what you
hear or you think there may be too many
risks.
These are your options. You stop at any
time.
You know, uh Mayor's asked me to take a
look at this. I'm certainly, you know,
doing my best
keep up with what's happening and uh uh
and understand the market a little bit
better. Some of the things I'm finding
are a bit surprising
and I'll be able to elaborate on that at
the next report, but I I would encourage
at least going to the next phase,
you know, and get some more research
behind this. Like we said, I mean,
getting in front of this, you know, is
perfect, you know, cuz it's coming, you
know, so to have all this information
would be so beneficial.
Yeah, and the mayor's request was
actually somewhat prescient. It was even
before there was all this coverage that
we now see. Uh so, kind of glad for the
opportunity to
you know, I think there's a way to kind
of do this and do it the right way. If
if we can do it the right way, then
you have the best of all choices.
Dr. Wilson?
I did like your presentation.
I am not for Davidson as for the record.
Um
the lawyer our lawyer and
Lauren said that we could possibly
um be in litigation if we haven't done
our due diligence.
And we want to make sure that we've done
what
we're supposed to do. My answer's still
going to be no,
you know, but if whatever happens.
Um but
I want to make sure that we have done
everything that we're supposed to do.
So, if someone comes in
and if we if our answer is to prohibit
totally, we've done our due diligence. I
do know that Atlantic City Electric
you you talked about the grid. It cannot
handle the solar right now.
That's correct.
>> So, that's that's an issue.
So, to bring this in would be
it's just it's nearly impossible, you
know, to do if they can't even handle
the solar right now.
So,
based on that, um I do think we should
do the study, but again, I'm not for it
because all of this would
Who would pay for it?
You know, we need to have all of that in
place
to say to make a a quality decision.
I mean, even though I've already made my
decision.
No, but I still want the facts,
you know, to support
the decision that I made.
Okay.
Thank you.
I feel as if a temporary resolution is
the way to go.
These are worldwide companies coming in
with worldwide law firms and everything
else. We don't even know their game
plan. We don't even know
what their requirements are.
He said temporary. We all have the same
issues. We all have the same
foresight.
But,
we adopt something right now,
it's quite difficult to change it. Where
if we do a 6-month we can see where the
trend is going and we can
combat the trend and make up what we
want so that they have to come in and
ask permission from us to do what they
want to do.
Then, we can say no.
We don't have that
mechanism in there. They can come in and
say, "You don't have that mechanism, so
how can you say no to this?"
And and I mean, they have endless
pockets.
They have endless pockets. They can
change the game
worldwide
in Washington.
So, as long as we keep the door open and
we keep up with it,
I think that would be our most
economical plan rather than lock in
and
in the year
2030, it's a whole different game.
That's That's how I feel.
I have a I have a question. so
if we do a resolution to
What did he say? To temporarily pause.
Then that would give you our
professionals
time to do the studies
what needs to be done.
Correct.
If I understand, but then we can always
change that as well.
As time goes on. Absolutely.
So we can keep up with the times. Right.
Mhm.
Yes.
I I need I need clarity. I need clarity.
Cuz you know, we talking about you
Somebody said something about litigation
and
lawsuits and I'm just trying to I need
you um Mr. Solicitor to please help me
here.
What
how do we have a
How are we preventing or
How is this Would it make it be a
lawsuit or some kind of litigation?
Where Where is that coming in from? So
So what could happen is when you have a
novel issue and it's not well
informed in terms of putting together an
ordinance through the codification
process, if we don't cover all bases and
we leave things open where there could
be either loopholes or cracks through uh
shield I would uh say, you could open
yourself up to litigation as well if you
don't do a period of due diligence take
a look at all of the rationale behind
putting together in a prohibition or a
total ban. Uh that could lead to issues
in terms of litigation as well. So,
whenever we have something brand new
where we're saying for a specific
business like this,
uh we don't want it
It's always beneficial for us to take a
look at the reasons why so that when we
put together the ordinance and we use
the ordinance where has a whereas
clauses in there, it would be a well
basis of a rationale why we do not want
data centers here in Hamilton Township
and the steps that we took to be able to
do the research and put in that
prohibition.
What we're asking the community to do is
allow us to put in a temporary
resolution or moratorium, which means we
hear your points of we don't want data
centers here now, but that resolution is
temporary while we do our information
and our research to be able to present
back to you so that you can make an
informed decision of saying, yes, we
want data centers, no, we don't want
data centers, or maybe we want data
centers, but they're going to be
restricted based on these specific
specifications.
Um and we would just like a little bit
more time to be able to circulate that
information for you.
But what prevents a company from coming
in
while we're on our temporary hold and
buying up a whole bunch of land
and then all of a sudden we're just
we're doing our research. They bought
the land. We can't stop them. Can't they
come in and just buy the land and then
we look up and they say, all right, we
have the land. We want to just put it
there because we don't have an ordinance
on file saying that we don't want the
data centers to come here anyway?
>> Yes, uh
I guess we should say we're going to put
together something in the next meeting
whether it be ordinance or resolution
but temporary basis rather than a
permanent prohibition. So, we're going
to put a moratorium of saying we don't
want data centers here in Hamilton
Township for this period of time.
Before the expiration of that period of
time, I'm sure myself, Mr. Goodman, will
be coming back
at different intervals based on the
things that he just outlined of
reporting back to you for you to make
the determination whether you want that
moratorium
or prohibition to be permanent or
whether you want it to be restricted and
modified or whether you want us to pull
back and say, "No, based on the
research, we will allow data centers
here in
Hamilton Township." So, we're going to
put a a temporary freeze in place with
your permission at the next mayor and
meeting after so we can draft it saying
no data centers for this period of time
as we go through the due diligence. And
then you're going to make an informed
decision before the expiration of that
period of saying, "Yes, data centers.
No, data centers. But maybe if they fit
these qualifications." And if I may add
a rejoinder just simply about commercial
real estate development and as we know,
there's only one zone in the Township
right now that could support it
conceivably
and that's the industrial business park.
And virtually every land sale that goes
on there is
it a contract is written to purchase,
but it's usually contingent on obtaining
the approvals, especially on bare land.
Nobody wants to get locked into owning
land that they can't use.
So, I don't I don't see that you know, I
understand the concern. I don't see that
scenario emerging. But nonetheless,
Mr. Solicitor is correct that you know,
this will
um you know, if someone decide to to
say we won't hear their application or
won't take their application for a data
center while we have a resolution like
this in place
you know, a judge would dismiss it out
of hand saying that you know, this is a
reasonable thing.
These people are trying to figure out
the best [clears throat] way to do this
and they should be allowed to do it.
Are we
Okay.
So, we have we Have you even set a limit
of
I'm listening to you, but I'm just
saying like is he
So,
are you saying Mr. Director that you're
going to come back the next meeting
with more information?
I think I'm going to need about 60 days
to give you a much more detailed
understanding.
You know, if you if you told me to find
a way to prohibit data centers, you
know, I'd go do that.
But I've been asked to kind of weave a
an unusual navigable course that doesn't
preclude it
and doesn't approve it.
I'm trying to come back to you with
facts, things that you can make
decisions on.
But but just for clarity purposes, we're
going to come back in front of you with
either a resolution or or or a basis or
ordinance to be able to say we're
putting a moratorium a temporary
moratorium on data centers. So, that
will be coming in front of you either
the next meeting or the one thereafter
setting that so we can go through due
diligence. So, if you'd like us to move
forward, that that'll move quickly for
you saying no data centers for this
period of time for the very least
Hamilton Township. So, that'll go
that'll move quickly.
That'll move tonight or that'll move No,
that won't move this evening. It's only
up for discussion this evening. It'll
have to be at at the very quickest the
next agenda.
Um but it's not in front of you this
evening. It's only up for discussion.
And I just feel it's some kind of
gray area here that I know I'm missing
because I'm just
if we're saying
to me it seems like
with some of us are saying we don't want
them and then some of us are saying,
"Well, let's just see what the
technology is out here and and then go
from there." But then we're also saying
we might not even have the land, but
then we're saying that we need time to
see
and talk about it. Meanwhile,
some people said that they can just come
in and buy the land, you know, like once
somebody comes in here and buy the land,
you know, with the technology some of
them they don't need to be as big as I
guess the other ones they have.
You know what I mean? Cuz there's new
technology coming all the time, so they
don't need a mass amount of land, too,
with some of them. You know what I'm
saying?
Just just because they purchased land in
the township does not give them rights
to build a data center
within the
food or within the
usage. Okay.
>> property and zoning. So, essentially,
what an ordinance and permanent ban
ordinance would do is create the zoning
so that it would not be a permitted use
in that uh
either in that area or
township-wide. So, that would be a a
permanent prohibition. That's what we're
looking for to see what the township
wants to do that. At this point, we're
putting
potential developers on notice of saying
while we're going through our due
diligence period, no data centers. So,
that's what a temporary prohibition or
temporary moratorium is. That's what
we're asking committee to allow us to do
as of right now saying during our due
diligence period, no data centers. At
the end of that due diligence period,
committee will make a decision of
whether that prohibition is going to be
permanent,
whether it's going to be
modified and we say, "Well, we like
this, but we don't like this." That's
the development specification. Or based
on our research, we're fine with data
centers. We're going to allow them in
the township. But, that will be at the
end of that due diligence period. At the
immediate moment, because of this is an
emerging issue, it's been brought We
were asked to bring this in front of you
saying
because of the concerns we have, we want
to pause and say no data centers at the
moment in Hamilton Township.
Let's do that while we go through due
diligence period. So, that's what will
come in front of you in the next meeting
or the one after. Hopefully, by the next
meeting, it is
a resolution ordinance saying no data
centers as of right now while we go
through that due diligence.
Okay.
Thank you.
And and Mr. Goodman Director, um
your presentation is awesome cuz, you
know, it's a wealth of knowledge.
You know, it's just basically I'm just
looking at
Holly Blades and just thinking about
Brooke, I think you're raising very very
important issues that we have to
address. I mean
>> [clears throat]
>> I've got a handful of
categories uh that represent things we
have to resolve.
But I suspect we're going to find a bit
more as I do more research and that's
what I would like to bring before
you at a later date so you can again
make an informed decision. And then you
think you need about 60 days? I think
so, yeah. I think I can be back here
probably by the end of July, I believe.
Okay. And most likely.
No matter what you guys do, we're going
to be in a much the the township is
going to be in a much better situation
than they were 20 minutes ago.
It's
This is completely proactive.
>> Yeah.
No one
called and asked, you know, what are the
chances of me building a data center in
the township?
This is something that we talked about
at at redevelopment came up in
discussion.
And it it's We want to get ahead of it.
So
we want to pause this
till we get
Robert looks into this
and looks into the legalities of banning
it. Make sure we're not going to get
sued like anything else.
Like with the canvassing.
No one likes the canvassers knocking on
the door at
7:00.
Canvassing first started
how many years ago did canvassing
It would have been easy to say, "I don't
want canvassing. We don't want
canvassing."
We probably would have got sued if we
passed an ordinance and said no
canvassing.
You have to make sure the the lawyers
look into it. We all look into
We're not
putting ourselves at risk of liability.
Liable for our decisions.
Exactly. Thank you. Yeah, that's a good
That's a good question. All right, we're
good. So, is there a time frame date? I
know you say 60 days, but is the
resolution going to say from this period
to this period?
Okay.
And the expiration date you're looking
like
My My suggestion would be by the end of
the year.
Yeah, I think that's a realistic time
frame.
Right. We can We can change that.
Yeah. Yeah, I mean the way I see this is
that you're going to be exposed to new
facts. I know I am.
And I'm going to be bringing them here
for presentation for you to understand.
Um
And those facts may have you want to
change the timeline.
May want to change the direction or go
down any one of these three paths. You
know, you'll you'll have enough
information you may believe you have
enough to decide this.
So, that's why the idea was kind of
phase this out.
And if we get as far as defining
standards, then
Yeah, we're we're we're being as Brett
said, we're being proactive by
identifying the risk and we're looking
to solve them. Yeah, something that um I
can My uh colleague here uh
uh Watkins has shared is that Yeah, the
practical reality is that if somebody
came in today with an application,
it'd have to be heard before the zoning
board because it would require a use
variance.
Not only that, it most likely would have
to go through the redevelopment
committee because it's kind of a new
beast and would be certainly outside the
scope and there may be special
accommodations that would be necessary
to support it.
And I think the thing that's a little
bit more terrifying is if that happened,
uh we'd have to be kind of doing this
with a gun
to our head.
We'd have to be making these standards
up on the fly.
And I can assure you it would be
imperfect and risky.
So, again, I think this approach is a
little bit more cautious.
Again,
if we just keep bringing facts to the
table and you decide which direction you
want to go,
nobody can nobody can sue the township
for taking a reasonable rational way to
do this.
Anyone can sue the township. Well,
>> [laughter]
>> Thank you from the lawyer.
Yeah, and I I I think uh we're in a
in a good spot right now cuz there's
other municipalities that are doing the
same thing.
They're investigating. They're probably,
I'm going to assume, they're drafting
ordinances.
And as those ordinances start to come to
light, we will be able to take that
information,
learn from it,
move forward from that,
and and see what happens there. Also,
I've been looking at this
for quite some time. Like Robert said, I
brought this up and said I think we
really need to dive into this
figure out what's
what's true and what's not true. You go
on the internet and that's basically how
you learn. You go on the internet and
start looking, and if you want to be
against these things, you can really
quickly find all kinds of facts
to prove that you don't want them. And
if you want to be pro data center, you
could find all kinds of facts that say
data centers are good.
So,
it's time to really, I you know, this is
that Robert,
Bob, whoever else,
start looking into this, find the facts,
cuz I go on and and Here, I am. I'm
using I'm using AI
that learn a lot of this stuff, you
know? AI will tell me some things and
I'll I'll take that and I'll go, "All
right, now I'm going to go in that
direction."
So, I'm uh
I guess I'm guilty of us needing data
centers.
So, uh I guess if the data centers
really started to learn and became
Terminator, they could kind of guide me
on where they want me to go. But, uh
that's that's why I want somebody who
has
I'm I'm
I hope Richard Jefferson isn't
listening, but I did that Richard's
time.
Somebody who's actually doing it on the
time that they're supposed to be doing
it and can actually really work and and
do it do the due diligence that we need
done.
Um I mean, I I I hear
Committee Woman Witherspoon and I mean
Dr. Witherspoon
Committee Woman Thompson
saying, you know, they're against it.
If I had to make a decision right now,
I'm against it.
But, I also want more information
to guide us on on where we need to go.
And um
so, I think moving from here
I think the right thing to do would be a
resolution
pausing it through the end of the year.
Cuz I don't know what if if we did it if
we do it further than that or would a
resolution because it's the end of the
of the year.
>> It would sunset. It it would sunset.
Right, it would sunset. So, I think I
think that's the furthest we can go with
a resolution. If we went the ordinance
The ordinance will be in place until
you're
It it And and like I said, it it would
take longer to make that happen.
Cost us a little bit more money.
So, I I make the suggestion that we do a
resolution pausing data centers through
the end of the year.
That's Well,
obviously, we we can't do that tonight,
but asking you to go ahead and do that.
>> I'll work with you on that.
Is everybody okay with You like You like
that?
Yeah, I'm I'm okay.
Okay.
Very good. Robert, thank you for your
presentation. That was awesome. We
appreciate it.
>> Thank you, thank you, Director Goodman.
Uh
moving on 4C.
Resolution authorizing renewal of class
five
cannabis retail license to Columbia Care
New Jersey LLC,
also known as The Cannabist.
I hear a motion. Motion. Second. I have
a motion and a second.
Any questions, comments?
Hearing none, can I get a roll call
vote, please? Mr. Aiken. Yes. Mr. Cheek.
Yes. Ms. Thompson.
Yes.
Dr. Witherspoon. Yes. Mayor Patali. Yes.
Mr. Cheek.
Abstain. You abstain. Okay.
Okay, four yes, one abstain. Motion
carries.
Okay, 5A.
Public hearing ordinance 2133-2026,
an ordinance amending chapter 60,
officers and employees,
article 26 of the code of the Township
of Hamilton to create the position of
municipal enforcement officer and
establish the qualifications, hours, and
duties.
This is a public hearing. Anybody from
the public wish to speak?
Motion to close. Second. I have a motion
and a second. All those in favor? Aye.
Eyes have it.
Sure.
Second. I have a motion and a second.
Any questions or comments?
Roll call vote, please. Mr. Aiken? Yes.
>> Mr. Cheek?
>> Yes. Ms. Thompson? Yes. Dr. Witherspoon?
>> Yes. Mayor Patel?
Yes. All yes.
5B,
public hearing ordinance 21-34-2026,
an ordinance amending exhibit A to
article 2 of chapter 66 of the code of
the township of Hamilton
's chart of
organization to provide for the creation
and amendment of certain positions and
maximum salaries.
Municipal enforcement officer,
administrative
enforcement officer and cove deputy day
manager.
So, public hearing.
Anybody from the public wish to speak?
Motion to close
Second. Motion to close. Second. I have
a second. All those in favor? I.
Against? I's have it.
What's your pleasure?
Motion.
I have a motion. Second. I have a
second. Any questions or comments?
Roll call vote, please. Mr. Aiken? Yes.
Mr. Cheek? Yes. Ms. Thompson? Yes. Dr.
Witherspoon? Yes. Mayor Patel?
Yes. All yes.
Ordinance 21-35-2026,
an ordinance amending article 1 of
chapter 301 subsection 3 regarding
parking restrictions on certain streets
in the code of the township of Hamilton
to allow for a temporary suspension
of parking enforcement for certain
events. This is a public hearing.
Anybody from the public wish to speak?
Motion to close public
Second. I have a motion in a second. All
those Those favor? I. Against? Eyes have
it.
For pleasure?
I make a motion to order. Second. I have
a motion and a second. Any questions or
comments?
>> Just one
question.
So in advance, [clears throat] do we
have an example of the event that we
were talking about?
Boat races.
>> Boat races. Okay.
Cardboard boat regatta. Right. Right.
Is it
Right.
Anybody else?
Roll call vote, please. Mr. Aiken. Yes.
Mr. Cheek. Yes. Ms. Thompson. Yes. Dr.
Witherspoon. Yes.
>> Mayor Patelli. Yes. All yes.
No introductions, no war.
Consent agenda.
What?
A through
Still on the consent agenda?
No.
Yeah, no, no, no, no, no, no.
I must motion A
1 through 3
2 E.
You said 1 through Hold on. 1 through 3.
What do you mean A You mean A through
A.
1 through 3. Is that so On the On the
late agenda. On the late agenda. Oh,
okay. Okay.
3 A.
Second. So I have a motion for A through
8 A through E.
Does he want And we have a second. Yeah,
I've got the second. Second.
All those in favor? I. I.
Against?
Eyes have it.
Personnel resolution to amend 2026-0
173
and from that was passed May 4th, 2026
to correct a typographical error
on higher code staff for 2026 season.
So moved.
Second.
I have a motion and a second. Uh roll
call vote, please. Mr. Aiken? Yes.
>> Mr. Cheek? Yes.
>> Ms. Thompson? Yes. Dr. Witherspoon? Yes.
>> Mayor Patelli?
Yes.
>> All yes.
9
B
Resolution to hire Nadine Irwin as a
full-time planning and zoning clerk for
the Department of Community and Economic
Development effective June 1st, 2026.
So moved.
Second. I have a motion and a second.
Roll call vote, please. Mr. Aiken? Yes.
Mr. Cheek? Yes. Ms. Thompson? Yes. Dr.
Witherspoon? Yes. Mayor Patelli?
Yes.
All yes.
Approvals.
Minutes, regular meeting minutes of May
4th, 2026.
So moved. Second.
I have a motion and a second. All those
in favor? I. Against?
Eyes have it. Bills, bill list total 7
million
$668,148.63.
So moved. Second. I have a motion and a
second. Roll call vote, please. Mr.
[clears throat] Aiken? Yes. Mr. Cheek?
Yes. Ms. Thompson? Yes. Dr. Witherspoon?
Yes. Mayor Patelli? Yes. All yes.
Reports.
Mr. Administrator.
I just want to congratulate you.
Solid deputy.
Great municipal department.
Congratulations.
Mr. Solicitor. I agree with the
administrator.
Mr. Engineer. I agree as well.
Jane, um just a couple updates on the
roads. Uh so, River Road and Gravely Run
were milled uh today.
And they will be paved on Wednesday
morning.
Uh so, they should be uh
all cleaned up before the
week Oh, we had some base repair out
there. Uh there's a little bit of base
repair on River Road. They did that
today. Um
unfortunately, Gravely Run was very thin
asphalt.
Uh we were surprised how thin it was. It
was only an inch.
Yeah. So, there's a couple areas there
that we're going to
box out and and
thicken up a little bit, but nothing too
drastic.
Um Dennis
Forman Road uh bids are coming in on
Thursday.
So, we'll have a report for next meeting
on those. And um
I want to thank Mr. Goodman for that
data center
presentation.
A neighboring municipality is working on
the same
uh information as well.
And um I'll be happy to work with Mr.
Goodman on on this. It's definitely
something uh that's coming
uh no matter what. And we want to be
ahead of it.
Um and like he said, it's
it's prohibited. It could go to a zoning
board application and
whether it gets presented and the board
denies it, could probably end up in
court
a zone that's similar in use, like the
industrial park. And even though it's
not permitted there, uh it does hold you
liable
for it. So, this putting a pause uh
basically warns the developers, "Listen,
just just wait."
And and we're going to do our due
diligence. So, I just want
thank you and we'll go on.
I agree.
Township committee members, uh
Dr. Witherspoon.
Um again, I I'm First, I would like to
also congratulate Jane.
And um so, I know that you've already
been doing the work and we know that
you'll continue to do a great job. So,
congratulations.
I I attended the um mixer
um supported by the Rotary Club and the
Mays Landing Merchants Association at
Lake Lenape a couple weeks ago. It was
very nice.
It was very very nice and ACEA was
there.
And it was really nice how they had all
of the resources and the businesses and
all of that. It was just a nice event.
It was a nice event and I was glad to be
there.
I um attended the Atlantic County
Prosecutor's Interfaith Prayer
um breakfast at the Linwood Country Club
on Friday.
That was very nice. There was a lot of
law enforcement
and some interfaith um people there and
what they're trying to do, this is the
fourth one,
is to bridge the gap between interfaith
and law enforcement.
And so, the idea was good. It was very
nice. And while I was there,
someone says to me, "I'll see you at the
ribbon cutting at 2:00."
And I said, "What ribbon cutting?"
They said, "ACIT." I said, "Well, I
didn't know anything about that."
And so, but I will go. So, I ran to the
township first to make sure that there
was not an invitation inside my mailbox
that I didn't look at. Then I
went and looked at the my email
to see if anything was there. There was
nothing there.
So, I did attend and represent Hamilton
Township. It was at the last minute.
But, I showed up and sit on the front
row.
>> [laughter]
>> It was a very very nice event. Um
It's a 153,000 square foot facility,
state of the art.
Everything was done by the the youth
from ACIT. They sang the
the national anthem.
Um they gave you a cornerstone as a
gift.
The youth prepared the the orderbs.
It was very nice.
Um there Mr. I have to say
superintendent
Dr. Gunther
did apologize
uh for not recognizing me as an uh
elected official.
That I didn't I I didn't get get out of
shape.
I just said, "Okay."
>> [laughter]
>> I just said it was okay. Yeah, yeah. Oh,
well, you know, well really wasn't, BUT
IT WAS OKAY.
>> [laughter]
>> BUT, HE DID APOLOGIZE for that. So, uh
but I did represent Hamilton Township.
I did You don't You didn't see me in the
ribbon cutting because they didn't
invite me up there and I didn't want to
like bust my way up, you know. Push my
way through. You know, you don't do
that. I
>> [laughter]
>> have a little class here, you know.
But, you know, I was there and I smiled
and I was happy about it. And it is it
is a beautiful place and they did do a
tour. So, if you haven't been there
it's something that you do want to see.
And they can have an additional 450
students.
And um that's good. Of course, the
schools don't like it because they're
taking money from school districts, but
people parents have a right to have an
option.
And so the children Everybody's not
going to go to college, you know. So,
it's it's a beautiful thing. It used to
be Vo-Tech, now it's ACIT. All right, so
that was beautiful. Monday, Memorial
Day,
uh will be at Well, I'll let the mayor
talk about all three
locations.
No.
>> [laughter]
>> No. Only reason why I'm talking about
the one at Memorial Park is because I'm
singing the national anthem.
Good. It's 12:00.
All right, so I'll be there for I mean,
11:00. 11:00. They'll put the Thank you.
Thank you. At 11:00, uh they they they
will be having the
memorial service on that day. So, at the
Memorial Park, the veteran service at
the Memorial Park
on Memorial Day at 11:00 a.m. All right,
and that's my report.
Very good. Thank you.
Straighten up. Me? Sure.
So, first, I want to thank the volunteer
fire companies out there, the rescue
squad, the HTPD, and the township
dispatchers. You know, I'm not much of
Facebook, but I did see it on there that
you all worked as a team with some
issues that were in the township. I like
to see that teamwork together. Um it's
great. I always say teamwork makes the
dream work, and it was nice to see you
all working together.
Um I know there was that fire out in uh
Estell Estell Manor out there, and
that's where I think the teamwork came
into play. So, I just want to say thanks
to them.
Um I want to congrat- congratulations,
say congratulations to committee woman
Dr. Thelma Witherspoon on her Peg
Roberts Outstanding Elected Official of
South Jersey Award.
Congratulations. I know you're always
out and about. You know, you go
everywhere, here, there, left, right, up
and down.
Uh I am shocked that they didn't
recognize you over at ACIT with all what
you do and all you get. [laughter]
So, I just wanted to say congratulations
on that. Um
My last thing, it's something different.
I just wanted to give a shout out to
Allegiant Air. So, I flew them out of
ACY. Um not this past weekend, the last
weekend before,
um to Florida. I seen my uh
niece's uh graduation from college. And
I had absolutely no problems flying out
ACY with them. So, I just want to give
them a shout out. It was maybe a
10-minute flip of hesitation at ACY for
departure, but other than that, You had
to throw that in there, didn't you? Uh
well, it was 10 minutes, nothing. Smooth
in, smooth out. We didn't fly into a big
airport. It was the Orlando Sanford one
we flew into. But I I give them a shout
out, and hopefully they continue to
grow. I know I'm hearing different
things with Sun Country and all that.
Breeze is now, and so it's good thing.
So, I just want to let everybody know I
had a good experience with Allegiant out
of there. So,
and that's my report. Very good. Minnie
Wominnie Thompson.
All right.
So, um
I attended the regional
business-to-business mixer on May 6th.
Um
which was right here in Mays Landing
by Lake Lenape. I was able to make some
contacts and engage with a provider whom
I believe will be a value to our
workforce development community, which I
have to talk to you about, Brett.
Um May um in the future. So, on May 9th,
I was at the resource
fair and carnival,
which was at our George Hess School.
Um my time there was uh so much fun,
surrounded by pony rides, crafts, and
musical activities. Plenty of families
were there attended, and they received a
ton of information from the more than 50
resource tables.
On the same day, I ran over to the Oak
Fest and was engaged with the Chocolate
Chickens from Hamilton
Sustainable team. Well, I learned from
Susan Lazorcheck, who's right here, just
so happens to be,
that these are a rare breed of chicken.
So, I was really uh
fascinated by these chocolate chickens
and everything um
along with a lot of um
other information that she was giving me
>> [laughter]
>> about the chickens.
It was a great pleasure meeting with the
members of the First United Methodist
Church, which is on 6011 Main Street,
Mays Landing. They're also known as the
church that does stuff. So, I told them
I was going to shout them out. They are
the church that does stuff with Pastor
Robin Clark. They provide the community
with They Well, they when they were
there, they were providing the community
with packets of seeds to plant a variety
of beautiful flowers. I will note they
also um maintain Main Street food uh
pantry.
On the past Saturday, I was also
I went to the Holy Cross Cemetery. It
was um Armed Forces Day, and I was there
and to um
give a prayer and put flags on the
veterans' uh tombstones,
um which I always uh
feel a lot of um
so good.
Pleasure, and I feel like um because I
come from a veterans' family, um that
this, you know, is something that we
need to do to
honor our veterans and to also
um when we do, like they do the wreaths
or we do flags or anything, that we I
usually shout their names out. I read
their names, the family names on the
tombstone, and then I say, um "You are
not forgotten." And I say, "God rest
your soul and your spirit." So, I think
that's very important that we do that.
Finally, I would like to make an
announcement that the Mays Landing
Merchants Association presents that the
27th annual hometown celebration. It's
going to be on Saturday, June 27th
from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the
William Memorial Park here in Main
Street
50.
I also want to shout out um
remember reading something by Director
Tellef
and Brett is get they wanted a
constituents was talking how well they
were maintaining the park and they was
like Brett was very responsive and how
he called about, you know, doing things
and cleaning up and stuff at the park
and he was really happy about the
service
um he received from our business
administrator and he was happy about the
work that the public works had done. So,
we did receive acknowledgement in a
letter and I wanted you to know that.
So, thank you so much.
And that's it.
Happy mayor?
Uh first of all, congratulations to
Jane. It's quite great that you fill in
a big set of shoes and it's nice to have
you.
Next was I was at the business to
business mixer at Lake Lenape and that
was very nice as well.
Then it was cleaning Babcock Road.
Everyone get a WaWa bag, please.
>> [laughter]
>> Put it in your car.
Yes, it's the second or third time I did
Babcock and
it was nice and then from there I went
to the Oak Fest which was just as nice
and
always that's a nice event.
Then I went to the first time the
Atlantic County Rowing Championship at
Lake Lenape.
And
being an athlete in a family of
athletes, it's just nice to see
young high school kids with their
families in a pure environment just the
whole family enjoying themselves and it
was just nice to see.
County first class County athletes.
Then last on Sunday I will not be at
Memorial Park to hear you doctor.
Memorial Monday
Oh, it's Monday? Yeah. I thought it was
Sunday. Oh, I'm sorry.
I have a daughter turning 40. I got to
be there.
I'll be there Monday then. I'm sorry.
>> [laughter]
>> And that's all I have.
Very good. Thank you.
Um I also attended that that mixer. That
was nice to have it here in town.
Um
really good to have
all those people come there that
um
and and meet different people and
get to know
what resources are out there and uh over
at Lakeview Manor shows off that the
park there.
And uh it's really nice park.
Um
attended Oak Fest, picked up trash with
Rich.
Uh went to the resource fair. That was a
busy very busy day. Also went to the
rowing championships
um and was fed quite well by the
Oakcrest team. So they I'll tell you
what those people know how to put some
food out and there's no doubt that that
is that's
those regattas especially that one.
That's a big one. It's all it's always
on Mother's Day. Um
it brings economic activity to our town.
There's no doubt about it. There's
thousands of people there all day almost
all day long.
So it's it's
nice that they they come here and they
do that. I also went um
the past few weekends were the Robert
DeNofrio
um street hockey tournament. And that's
two weekends long. Actually I think they
they play some games during the week
too.
Um teams from
New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey
all over. I think it was over 70 teams.
And that's another
economic driver for our town. They're
going down. I was walking around there
you hear the people talking. They're
going They're going down to the Olive
Garden. They're going to the mall.
They're shooting over to Dick's to pick
up another hockey stick. They're you
know, you hear it. There's they had food
trucks out there. Really great to see
that and every year that that tournament
seems to get bigger.
So, um
that's really great to see that happen.
Um
as Eric said, shout out to our first
responders, Estelle Avenue. Uh I also
want to give a shout out to Richland who
helped cover because one of their
firefighters was injured. Um I don't
know if you've heard anything how he is.
I know it was just a cut on his hand.
But nonetheless, um volunteer
firefighter got hurt.
And uh we hope he uh he doesn't have any
long-lasting problems with that. And uh
thanks to all of them. I think Dorothy
was out there too, correct?
No, no Dorothy. Okay.
Oh, thanks Dorothy anyway you come out.
>> [laughter]
>> Millville. Millville. Yes. So, thanks to
Millville.
Uh good job you guys. I was I was
you know, middle middle of the day
that's one of the ones you get scared
about.
And uh you guys did a great job.
Um
Did I have something else? Memorial Day
was already talked about. Looking
forward to that. And Jane,
congratulations.
I hope you'll stay with us for a while.
I'm sure you will.
And uh
I guess we'll be saying goodbye to Rita
at the the next meeting or the meeting
after that.
Going to have a little something for for
Rita I hope.
And
Reagan, I will see you later. Maddie, I
miss you and I love you and I hope to
see you soon.
And with that, we'll open it up to
public.
I just wanted to take a quick moment to
thank the Township Committee for
listening to my comments earlier. I
appreciate your spirited conversation
concerning the matter. I really do. Um
as a resident of Hamilton Township, I'm
here.
This is where I where I live, where I
work, where I'm raising my babies, and
everything's important
to um me and not only my me and
>> Can you speak into the
mic so that the people at home can hear
you. I got you. I'm so sorry about that.
So, um earlier I wanted to be respectful
of the time and order of the agenda. I
do have copies of my statement and I'd
like to hand them out.
Again, I just want to say thank you for
a very very spirited conversation and
that it's being considered. Thank you.
And thank you for coming and speaking.
Thank you.
Hello.
>> Hi, Sue.
Uh Susan Lazarchick. Um
you have my address or No. All right,
Susan La Just leave out [laughter]
That's my neighbor. Um absolutely
um with the data center, I hope you
figure out a way to do a moratorium,
whatever you do with
resolutions or whatever. Um I don't know
that all of you have heard
Lake Tahoe residents are losing their
energy supplier to data center boom.
Um Atlantic City Electric No, you know,
Dr. Witherspoon mentioned it. Can't
handle it. The grid can't handle it. You
know, I think um our
previous governor was depending on
offshore wind.
And poof, that's not happening. But
anyway, can't handle it. Uh questions
about it. Who pays for electric grid
upgrades? Will local residents face
higher utility bills? I mean, they can't
handle their electric bills now.
We've got amazing aquifer. We got to
take care of it. You know, water, you
know, all that stuff. So, I hope you
find a way I mean, I know we need the
ratables, but at what cost? Um like you,
I like looking at AI, but um
at what cost? You know, I mean,
Microsoft, Apple, Google, they don't
care about us. They don't care about any
of us. They just They're doing their
thing.
Um
Anyway, and the other thing I wanted to
mention
Oh, and the other thing with that is
like make sure if you're considering
this, I mean, I don't know how much more
data you need. It's out there, but make
sure that you you know, require full
public dis- closure of pup- uh projected
energy and water use,
independent environmental impact
studies, that kind of stuff. I mean,
it's sounded like in Vineland, uh a lot
of the public was blindsided over it.
What happened? They made deals behind,
[clears throat] you know,
I don't have all the facts with that,
but that's my understanding. Um as far
as road stuff, I was thinking I don't
know if you
um
work with Cross County Connection
anymore, if you're doing any work with
them, because they offer
uh and and I and I'm mentioning that
because
I certainly as a resident, you know, as
transportation becomes more expensive,
as people are, you know, can't afford to
drive cars maybe.
Um I think we need to consider bicycle
and pedestrian.
And I know years ago we wanted to do um
you know,
look at that, to do an audit of that.
But Cross County Connection um
I just took did a little screenshot.
Um for local governments, if you don't
know I'm Patrick Farley came we did a
You did a walk, yeah. We did the walk
with Patrick Farley. He's amazing. He
knows everything.
Um, the Cross County Connection offers
for local governments bicycle pedestrian
planning and safety road safety audits.
Um,
they can help with grant services. I
mean, they're a good resource. I hope
you're using it and that
walk that we did, I mean, the the
um,
Green Teams
website page is a little outdated. Needs
to be updated. But if you look down
hidden down there That report's in
there.
>> there and there's a lot of good
information. And Patrick just
he's just
amazing. He knows a lot of information.
I hope you're
um,
you look at that that's there and
consider, you know, hooking into I don't
know how much money they have, how much
funding cuz funding's getting cut. But
it's a good resource that I hope if it's
still available that you utilize it. So.
As a matter of fact, we just wrote the
worked on a letter to the county
for Main Street trying to get a
crosswalk at Antrim. Good. Um, and
trying to get them to
um,
repaint the existing striping that they
have.
>> Mhm.
Um,
and that's been going back and forth now
for how long? We've been kind of back
and forth and finally we were told put
it in writing, send it to
um,
Dennis Levinson which we did we did
today.
Hopefully at least we get some of that
moving because of we have so much we
have economic activity on Main Street
now.
You know, it's
building up. Yeah, keeping pedestrians
in mind. Absolutely.
>> that was one of the that, you know, we
walked down Main Street. We talked about
that and different things that could be
done. It's it's you kind of think that
it's something that you can snap your
fingers and it happens. It's that's just
not the case. Um, you know, that
you don't own that street and even
streets that we own, we can't just, you
know, just things that you have to do.
>> When when I used to dog training, it was
repetition, repetition.
>> Repetition, repetition, repetition.
Well, there's a lot of repetition.
>> while we're paving, you know, I was up
in Monroe Township. I go up there
occasionally. There's a organic farm
that I love. Um they've got so many
pedestrian
um
you know, on the side of the road, green
They're green stripes. I mean, I don't
know how much more it would be to maybe
do some striping on your
But anyway, that's you know.
Just want to mention Crosswicks Road.
It's a good resource.
And keep the pedestrians in mind. We'll
look into it. And and we were going to
look into that um red blood tree over
there, too. So, I wanted to ask you, did
you right out front Yeah. There's a tree
there already. There is a tree there
already. Right? Are you talking about
the little the
>> The little circle? Where the where the
where the handicap walk is?
Yeah. There's a tree in there already.
>> So, who What kind of tree is it? How
long has that tree been there?
>> [laughter]
>> Wait, I'll go look. Is it the same tree?
Go go look.
>> Cuz it wasn't there last time I looked.
Anyway, I hope it's a I just want to
make sure we're looking at the same
thing. So, take a look and you let me
know. I hope I hope it's a native tree,
if it is. All right. [laughter]
Thank you, guys, for all you do. Thank
you. Thank you.
Hi, Teresa DeRose from Mays Landing,
Laurel Dale.
Um data centers are like eating the cake
without trying to get fat. You know, you
want all the stuff, the AI, and you want
all the Bitcoins, you want all that
stuff, but you don't want to get fat,
cuz they are they're really troublesome
for the environment. They're really
um
Now, they
they are um
as far as jobs, uh
once when they want to make them, there
are a lot of jobs, cuz they have to
clear all the trees, they have to buy
the land. It's, you know, a lot of money
going in, but then once they're
established, there's no jobs. It's like
maybe five people
running the place because they're
already, you know,
what is what is there to do? It's
already self-contained. Like um nuclear
power plants, it's only a few people you
need to
do it once they're established. But um
so with the foreseen revenue
um
establishing them
once they're established, they're
they're not really giving us anything
but more bills. And then um
even though the presentation with Robert
Goodman was very good, uh
there's a um I did a
presentation years ago on
electromagnetic fields. So with all this
data center, they're going to be
emitting a lot of electromagnetic
fields, such as when they tell you don't
put the
cell phone in your front pocket cuz you
get testicular cancer, don't keep them
on your ear all day long cuz you get
brain cancer. Well, these data centers,
as big as they are,
how much extra electric is going out
into the atmosphere that's going to be
causing cuz usually like trees are going
to buffer, trees, rubber, whatever are
going to buffer the you know, absorb the
electromagnetic fields. If we're cutting
down all these trees and putting in the
Amazon uh fulfillment center and
everything else, what's going to be, you
know, offsetting these electromagnetic
fields cuz they cause brain cancer and
everything else.
Um
The good thing about Amazon, we're not
cutting trees down.
That's true. Yeah.
And then there was another thing about
the Leepy field. Um
if we're going to put it another field
there, are we going to be charging
um
the the um
kids from the other other towns?
>> We already do. Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah, cuz
I was thinking like help with the trash
clean up, you know, stuff like that.
You know, to help with our our our um
property taxes.
All right. Thank you. Thank you.
I'm slow. Sorry.
Um there's no tree in that little
circle.
And if you wanted to I would certainly
be happy to advise on something nice and
something native if you wanted something
a shrub or something nice in there.
Um Don't even say that. I heard that.
What? I was You don't want to know.
>> [laughter]
>> Maybe I do. No.
She's going to call for you,
>> [laughter]
>> right? And I'm going to let it happen.
No, I said Bradford pear just to get up.
>> [laughter]
>> Yeah, we have lots There's lots of
those. Um Mr. Cheek, did you pick up
cigarette butts when you were um
>> Yes.
So, do you know that the one of the
green the one of the new green team
members
>> one of the new green team members is
working on
um a cigarette butt. I was walking with
her. That's why I was picking up
[laughter] cigarette butts.
Good.
>> She shanghaied me. You want to know
about the shelter?
I know
>> [laughter]
>> that.
So, good. Good. Good. All right. That's
it.
Anybody else?
Motion to close.
Second. Have a motion and a second. All
those in favor? Aye. Aye. Against?
Uh we will be going into executive
session.
We do anticipate formal action coming
out.
Um
Who's now? Do I hear a motion to
go into executive session?
>> Motion.
Second. I have a motion and a second.
All those in favor? I. I. Against?
Good.
Sure.
Hear a motion to come out of executive?
So moved. Second.
I have a motion and a second. All those
in favor? I. Against?
Now what?
MOU
Sorry.
I hear a motion to approve
the MOU for PBA contract. Motion.
Second. I have a motion and a second.
Roll call vote, please.
Mr. Aiken? Yes. Mr. Cheek? Yes.
Yes.
Motion to adjourn.
So moved. You have to get up there.
So moved. Oh, okay.
I was looking at the towers.
I have a motion and a second. All those
in favor? I. I. Against?
Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Thank
you.
>> [music]
>> Thank you.
>> What makes a good volunteer?
Um
Someone who's very dedicated,
uh loyal. Um
somebody who understands that it there's
a commitment involved and uh they have
to have the support of their family as
well
to be able to come and go uh at the drop
of a dime when [music] somebody else is
uh in need.
My name is Glenn Warner. Uh my name is
Larry Birch. Um Frank Roby. Hi, my
name's Louis De Martino. My name is
Kristy [music] Litsey. And I'm recently
the uh appointed as the new fire
administrator for the Township of
Hamilton. I've been with the department
for almost 30 years and a senior
captain. I'm [music]
uh one of the safety officers for the
department as well as a firefighter. I'm
[music] the chief of the May's Landing
Volunteer Fire Company. I am firefighter
and secretary [music] of the Weymouth
Volunteer Fire Company.
I started doing this when I lived up in
Maine where there's [music] very few
people. Um the town I lived in was 230
people and so
>> [music]
>> that's they were looking for help and so
I volunteered. My biggest inspiration to
volunteer is to help other people.
Um help the community. Back in October
of '73, I uh
I don't know. I seen the fire trucks
going around town and everything like
that and I was really interested and
then I joined and it's been 51 years
later. I'm still here.
>> [music]
>> It's something I grew up with. My father
is 40 something years with our company.
Uh I grew up with the ladies auxiliary
as well and then [music] uh 5 years ago
I decided to go through the fire academy
as well. It's just something that's
ingrained in me.
It's important for people to get
involved with their community because
this is where we live. This is
everybody. It's your neighbors helping
neighbors and uh if nobody's there, So,
now volunteerism across [music] the
country is down, and uh it's getting to
the point where if somebody called and
needed the help, but nobody's coming
out. The volunteer
uh is is running very low, so we are
always looking for volunteers to help
out. I think everyone needs to do that.
[music] There's not enough people right
now volunteering for whether it's fire
fire department or other things, and
people need to get re-engaged into, you
know, helping out the community.
Uh anybody could be a volunteer if
they're willing to put the time in. Uh
you have to be committed, and it's a big
commitment you're going to take. Um
but it's very interesting, and we have a
lot of fun.
Your local fire company, find [music]
out what their meeting nights is. Ours
are Monday. Um each company in our our
township has a different night, and you
can just show up, and you talk to them,
and you meet [music] with the chief and
all the guys, and kind of get a feel for
it, and see if it's something you'd be
interested in. So, you could go to the
town hall over here and talk to the fire
administrator, [music]
and he'll set you up with an
application. If you're
uh want to become a member, uh we also
do junior members.
Um
yeah, come down here Tuesday night and
get an application.
It's really important to uh step up for
your community. And even if you don't
[music] do it on the fire side, there's
EMS. There's all different services, you
know, public services that you can do uh
and [music] uh we just we need we need
the next generation to come up and um
you know, start taking the helm. We've
had many impacts, uh motor vehicle
accidents where we help people get out
of cars, uh fires where we help save
property, animals that we pulled out of
houses, and stuff. You don't get paid
[music] for it, but the payment that you
get inside is worth it completely. And
[music] it's one of those things, you
know, if I didn't volunteer, who would
be here to take my place, and what if it
was your house? You know, growing up
it's always well, what if it was our
house? And it just it's the most
fulfilling thing I've ever been a part
of.
If you were interested in becoming a
volunteer, you can go to any one of the
four [music] firehouses. One's in Mays
Landing, the second one Weymouth
firehouse is up off of the Black Horse
Pike. Laurel Dale Fire Company [music]
is off of Route 50 right by the
Expressway entrance. And then Cologne is
down
on the other side of the Expressway
behind the mall. Or you can come to my
office. I'm in the Township the main
building there on 13th Street [music]
in the fire administrator's office.
I'd say dedicated.
They're very Yeah, they're dedicated.