Town of Hammonton - Town Council Meeting 06-22-2026

Mhm.
>> Mhm.
>> Frank, do I have to wait for that to
come on?
All right. I apologize we started a
couple minutes late. Closed session ran
long. It's 7:03.
Roll call, please.
>> Councilperson Calderone.
>> Here.
>> Marino.
>> Here.
>> Metro.
>> Here.
>> R. Rodeo.
>> Here.
>> S. Rodeo.
>> Here.
>> Shipione.
>> Here.
>> Mayor Forgione.
>> Here.
>> Present also Michael Wenski, Town
Solicitor Rich Raymond of ARH.
Notice this meeting has been has been
posted given to official newspapers.
Please familiarize yourself with the
fire exits to the right in your Council
Chambers. Please do not proceed beyond
the front benches without invitation
from the Mayor to do so. Also, each
person who wishes to address Council
will be allotted 5 minutes.
>> All rise for the pledge.
>> Mhm.
>> I pledge allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America,
and to the
>> All right, just to get started, one
quick announcement before we open up the
meeting.
Uh
the AI portion of the meeting where we
have we're not going to entertain it.
Currently, the way that the AI sits,
data centers sit in town, it's a
non-permitted use, meaning you would
need to get a variance through planning
and zoning in order to even be
entertained.
Because that's the case, my thought was
let's bring in professionals to discuss
it. There's no need to discuss it.
There's no development proposed. Uh no
one's put in an application. And because
it's a non-permitted use, I think we let
sleeping dogs lie on that. That'll be my
opinion. And if the topic ever comes up,
we'll deal with it. But that's If
anyone's here for AI, I just want to let
them know that that we're not going to
discuss it tonight. Uh but
we're going to move on.
Uh this is the first
Let's get approval bill uh
minutes first. I'm sorry.
>> Motion, Mayor.
>> Second.
>> For all three?
>> All three.
>> Okay.
So, we have a motion for all three from
Marino and Arrodeau. All those in favor?
>> Aye.
>> Opposed? Motion carried.
All right, this is the first of two
opportunities for the public to be heard
on action items. Anyone wishing to speak
regarding an action item on the agenda,
please come up to the mic. There'll be a
second uh opportunity at the end of the
meeting.
Seeing no one,
we're going to start with we have two
presentations this evening. Chief Real,
please come on up. We're going to have
swearing in of your new police officer.
>> Good evening, Mr. Mayor, Deputy Mayor,
councilpersons, and community of
Hamilton.
>> Uh gives me great pleasure uh to bring
forward an individual who is a 2024
graduate of our Hamilton High School.
One of the things that we've been
looking to do in recruiting is to get
more homegrown individuals, young
individuals that are interested in the
field of law enforcement. It's one of
the fields that has kind of gone by the
wayside. It's not very appetizing and
appealing to most people nowadays.
People usually don't like people saying
mean things to them. Uh
disregarding whatever it is that they're
trying trying to guide and direct the
person through while they're going
through an emotionally energized,
chemically energized, or both uh
incident. So, it is not something that
people really kind of jump up and down
saying, "Pick me, pick me." Um but there
is an individual that I'm going to bring
before you tonight that is an individual
that said, "Pick me." Um he has attended
the Cape May County Police Academy,
which is no summer camp, uh I can tell
you. Um it uh is a Monday through
Friday. You're sleeping there, eating
there, breathing there, learning there,
and certainly sweating a lot there
because you are PTing all the time. Uh
and I'm sure he could probably tell you
some horror stories of how hard that
they're trying to get individuals ready
to be able to dealing with people not so
friendly. Um we're lucky to be in a
community as Hamilton where we have so
many residents that support and care for
law enforcement, are great law-abiding
citizens. But, of course, we have
incidents that we have to deal with,
whether resident or visitor. Uh so, we
have to be prepared for everything.
Um so, I would like to call forward uh
Officer
Lucas J. Goyer. So, I'd like to bring
him up to be sworn in Uh
and I would like you to bring up your
family, whoever you'd like to be with
that.
Came in last month, right?
>> Yeah.
>> [laughter]
>> You do it all over again, right?
>> Yeah, yeah, yeah.
>> Okay, so you can go ahead and raise your
right hand and put your left hand on the
Bible.
>> All right.
I, Lucas J Goya
>> I, Lucas J Goya
>> affirm that I will faithfully
>> impartially
>> and justly perform
>> all duties required of me
>> all duties required of
>> as police officer
>> for the town of Hammonton
>> effective January 26th, 2026
>> effective January 26th of 2026
>> to the best of my ability
>> I further affirm
>> that I will support the Constitution of
the United States
>> that I will support the Constitution of
the United States
>> and the state of New Jersey
>> so help me God
>> Congratulations.
And he's not out of the woods yet cuz
he's on field training right now. He'll
be going approximately 3 months through
our Hammonton Police Department field
training program,
which will then officially make him
through as a full
officer for our police department.
>> He's 16.
>> Congratulations.
>> Thank you.
>> How's the list?
>> Thank you.
>> Congratulations. Thank you.
>> Congratulations.
>> Yes, thank you.
>> Sir, very proud.
>> Thank you all very much.
>> Thank you.
>> That makes our second hire of the year.
We have the third one on the agenda for
tonight. So,
we're moving along hiring officers. Our
second presentation will be from Mr.
Calderone and the Historical
Preservation Commission.
>> Thank you, Mayor.
Uh this evening we have a presentation
from the Historic Preservation
Commission and we will also be the
Environmental Commission.
>> Correct.
>> Um the the Historic Preservation and
Environmental Commission
>> J.D., turn that microphone on.
>> Is that on?
>> Now it is.
>> There you go.
>> Uh the Historic Preservation and
Environmental Commissions sponsor a
poster contest for fourth grade students
at Warren E. Sooy Elementary School to
integrate uh the fourth grade curriculum
which focuses on New Jersey history uh
with one of our local landmarks, a
sapling from the Salem Oak tree which,
as Christine will discuss, is the oldest
tree, right? At the time it was still
standing in the history of the United
States. We now have a piece of that here
in Hammonton and we've been able to
integrate that through this poster
contest. So, I won't steal any more of
Christine's thunder. I'll allow her to
give a preview of this and to honor the
poster contest winner who's here
tonight.
>> Thank you.
I am Christine McCollum and I'm with the
Hammonton Historic Preservation
Commission. Um, we have a few of our
members who are here tonight. So, if the
commissioners would please stand.
And recognize you for all your hard
work.
And we also have
And Joe Bernardo is here from the
Environmental Commission. As we said,
this is a joint
This is a joint project that we've run
for our second year. Last year was the
first year that we had the poster
contest and some of you may remember
that's when we did the dedication of the
actual seedling that we had received.
The Salem Oak is important because it it
is um
critical to some of our history from
Salem County. Salem County, the first
treaty was signed between the Lenni
Lenape Indians and the Quakers,
uh particularly John Fenwick and they
signed the treaty underneath the Salem
Oak.
Salem Oak was there for a very long
time. We are very lucky that the
Forestry Service in New Jersey
was instrumental in taking some of the
seedlings as the tree was getting older.
They continued to try to preserve it,
but were concerned
that it was not going to live forever as
we all hoped. And so, they grew some of
those seedlings and then
passed the seedlings out.
Um, we're very happy that our
um, crew here in Hamilton went down when
we were awarded one of the trees and
took a big truck
to pick up the tree. You know, cuz they
figured they were going to get a tree.
They were handed an envelope with a
seedling this big. And so that was kind
of shocking, but um, luckily they were
able to bring it back and nurture it so
that we were then able during the um,
Arbor Day last year of actually planting
it. I'm going to ask Joe to tell a
little bit about the planting and then
I'll tell you a little bit more about
our contest.
>> Hi, Joe Bernardo, chairman of the
Environmental Commission. I am also
actually the uh, secretary to the Board
of Trustees of Oak Grove Cemetery where
the Salem Oak sapling was planted. Uh,
we did plant that in Arbor Day. I think
it was 2024,
I think. Um,
it was the sapling at that point had
gone from a little tiny stick to uh,
Scott Rivera would remember better, but
I believe it was about 5 and 1/2 or 6 ft
tall at the time.
Uh, so we planted that, had a nice
little ceremony. Now we have a fence
surrounding it. Um, and we worked in
conjunction with the Historic
Preservation Commission, were awarded a
grant so that we have a nice protective
fence. We have interpretive signage and
then in November of that year we had a
dedication ceremony
where um,
we had probably more than 50 people come
out which may not sound like a lot, but
when you're considering it was a
dedication ceremony for a tree in a
cemetery, that was a lot of people.
Uh, we had a lot of dignitaries. We had
members of the uh, Salem Quakers, the
Salem Friends. We had members of the
Nanticoke Lenni Lenape tribe,
uh, who at the time told us that the
treaty that was signed with John Fenwick
under the oak 351
in 1675, 351 years ago,
um, has never been broken in that entire
time. So, I haven't done the math, I
haven't done the research, but I'm
reasonably certain that is probably one
of the longest-standing
treaties
on Earth.
So, we were we were very proud to have
that. And now, as of earlier tonight,
the tree is right around 8 and 1/2 ft
tall, and we have affectionately named
it Sal. So,
that's our tree.
Christine?
>> So, last year, and again this year, we
had a poster contest, and it's the
fourth-grade students who were involved
because they learn about the Native
American people in New Jersey. So,
there's a very nice tie-in. Uh,
Dan
um, back with Talis and Joe Bernardo
actually went into the school and did a
presentation
for the students to kick off our
contest. And we, um,
told the students lots of facts, and
they'll probably be able to tell you
about how many children it takes to
actually get inside a rope the size of
the tree. That's kind of the highlight
of the presentation.
>> 52 by the way, because
>> So, we and at that point in time, we
announce
the contest. The teachers are very
supportive.
And, um,
the students have a little over 2 weeks.
They can do the work on their posters in
school, or they can do do them at home.
Outside the room, when you leave
tonight, you'll see on the right-hand
side as you're exiting, you'll see the
posters. The first, second, and third
place winners actually have their
ribbons on there, so you'll be able to
see those, but you'll be able to see all
of the posters that the students
submitted. They worked super hard. We
had um
judges
uh who are local artists in town who
actually did the judging. It took them
over 2 hours. They were very, very
impressed with the quality of the work,
the creativity,
the ability to tie the posters to the
information that they learned about the
Salem Oak, and about um the link to our
tree here in Hammonton.
So,
we have
um
third place winner is Ellie Ruggerio.
Second place winner is Brianna Paleski,
and our first place winner, we're very
pleased, is here with us tonight. So, if
you'll come up, Natalie.
And
here you are.
So, if you want to turn around so
everybody can see you.
Um
And when you look at her poster, one of
the um
refining criteria that the judges used
to be able to make the selection was did
the poster tie in
information about John Fenwick? Did it
explain why the Salem Oak was actually
important? Not that it was here in
Hammonton, but that the treaty was
signed under there. So, if you want to
look at her poster closely, you'll see
some little flips on it that will tell
you a
how she was able to successfully tie all
the information together. And now, one
of the things that the students get
excited about is when we give out our
first prize prize, it's actually $100.
And so, she can go out shopping now or
YOU CAN ASK
AND
WE HAVE ONE MORE PRESENTATION for
you from the town of Hammonton.
>> Unfortunately, we don't have any money
for you.
>> [laughter]
>> But, we do
We do have a proclamation for you
congratulating you on your um on your
success and for making the winning
poster in the poster contest. And if you
want to take a picture
There you go.
Good job, Gretchen.
>> [laughter]
>> Congratulations. Well done.
>> All right, well done. Very nice.
Uh we're going to dispense with the
regular order of business.
We're going to have a public hearing for
bond ordinance 12 of 2026, Route 54
water main replacement phases 1 and 2.
This
We're going to take the other money we
had from phase 1, roll it together. The
total of this bond is 4.9, 2.6 in from
phase 1. So, 7.5 total. So, I'll accept
a motion to open the public.
>> Make a motion.
>> Second.
Who was the first, I'm sorry?
Metro first.
>> Marino second.
Uh all those in favor of opening the
public?
>> Aye.
>> All right, we are now open in the public
on bond ordinance 12 of 2026, Route 54
water main replacement phases 1 and 2.
Anyone from the public like to be heard
regarding this ordinance?
Seeing no one, I'll accept a motion to
adopt and publish.
>> Motion.
>> Second.
>> Are Rodio, Shippion.
Discussion on this. We'll get more into
the nitty-gritty about the contractor in
phase 1 in a little bit, but any other
discussion on this? We have 2 million
coming back to us in principal
forgiveness phase 1, 2 million phase 2.
So, uh you're getting 4 million back of
the 7.5.
Discussion on this at all?
No? All right, roll call, please, Frank.
>> Councilperson Calderone.
>> Yes.
>> Marino. [clears throat]
>> Yes.
>> Metro.
>> Yes.
>> Are Rodio.
>> Yes.
>> S Rodio.
>> Yes.
>> Shippion.
>> Yes.
>> Mayor For Jordan.
>> Yes, motion carried.
Next,
we have a hearing on public hearing on
bond ordinance 13 of 2026, Lakeview
Garden waterline. This is for a PFAS.
Uh motion open to public.
>> Make a motion.
>> Metro first.
>> Second.
>> Calderon second. Uh all those in favor
open to the public?
>> Aye.
>> Opposed? Okay, we are now open to the
public. From anyone from the public like
to be heard on bond ordinance 13 of
2026, Lakeview Garden Pfas. This is an
installation of a waterline uh services
54 homes, I believe the number is. Uh
some of the private wells in that area
are contaminated with Pfas.
Uh we're looking to
hopefully grab most if not all this
money back from the state in the form of
a grant or in the form of principal
forgiveness, I should say.
So, anyone from the public like to be
heard on this?
Seeing no one, I'll accept a motion to
adopt and publish.
>> Motion.
>> Second.
>> Arrodeo, Metro.
We are now open for discussion.
Anybody have any questions, comments on
this one?
You guys good over there?
>> Mhm.
>> All right.
Roll call, please. Frank.
>> Councilperson Calderon.
>> Yes.
>> Marino.
>> Yes.
>> Metro.
>> Yes.
>> Arrodeo.
>> Yes.
>> S Radio.
>> Yes.
>> Schipani.
>> Yes.
>> Mayor Verducci.
>> Yes, motion carried.
All right, committee reports, admin and
Councilman Marino, please.
>> Thank you, Mayor.
>> You're welcome.
>> Uh as you are aware, the key code system
for employees [clears throat] in town
hall
uh
is almost completed. It should be done
within the next 30 days.
Basically, what that is is everybody
will have a code put in their phone and
you'll be able to come open a door
through your cell phone.
Uh we had accepted resumes for a
part-time violations clerk in the
office. We're currently reviewing them
at this time.
And also we're putting a new recording
system in for our phones in town hall
and that also includes the 911 system.
Water bills were sent out last Thursday.
The tax bills were waiting for the
county to get back to us with a rate
on that. As soon as we get that, we'll
send them out to the residents. And
finally the white collar contract was
approved and um that's all I have
at this time, mayor.
>> Thank you, Mr. Marino.
Business and industry, councilwoman
Rodio, please.
>> Thank you, mayor. Um regarding Main
Street, we have new and relocating
businesses. We have the Toy Market and
Cassiano's will be officially
uh closing, but Cream Cafe will be
taking over Cassiano's and there will
also be a cafe opening where the Tail of
the Olives currently
or where they were, I should say. The
Boho Beauty's uh bar is moving to where
Chroma was and a new salon will be
taking their place. Regarding the food
truck festival, the 11th annual downtown
food truck festival was a tremendous
success bringing approximately 38 food
trucks, five civic and community
organizations, live entertainment,
activities, and thousands of visitors to
the downtown.
The event generated um more than a
thousand dollars in net proceeds for
Main Street, which was above and beyond
the last How much?
>> More than 10,000.
I'm sorry. Did I not
>> You said a thousand.
>> Oh, I'm sorry. What Excuse me. More than
10,000, which was uh way above the
previous year. Community feedback was
overwhelming.
Uh business feedback was also very
encouraging with several businesses
reporting increased foot traffic and
sales. Community survey responses showed
mixed opinions regarding our new layout,
which um avoided the downtown trucks.
Events of this size require an
incredible incredible amount of
community support. Main Street Hammonton
would like to thank council members who
attended and assisted throughout the
event. Scott Rivera from Parks and
Recreation Department for transporting
tables and assisting with cleanup
before, during, and after the festival.
Chief Friel
and the Hammonton Police Department for
helping keeping our streets and our
pedestrians safe. And the town of
Hammonton for its continued support and
partnership in making this event
possible.
We would also like to thank the many
businesses that sponsored the event,
remained open during the event, the
volunteers, the civic organizations, and
importantly the the thousands of
residents and visitors who attended and
contributed to the event.
The ACEA Business Development um they're
the Atlantic County Economic Alliance.
They recently sent eight college interns
to visit businesses throughout downtown
Hammonton and the broader Hammonton
community. The interns met with business
owners to share information about many
programs, services, and resources
available through the ACEA to help
businesses grow and succeed.
We have the um community survey results.
There was approximately 517 submissions.
The top five takeaway is that the
community has a deep appreciation for
downtown, most frequently describing it
as quaint, historic, and
community-oriented.
The second um takeaway was inconsistent
business hours emerged as the most
significant concern.
More than 1/3 of the respondents feel
downtown does not adequately serve their
everyday household needs with frequent
requests for businesses such as hardware
stores and men's clothing retailers.
Respondents identified several
infrastructure priorities including
additional parking needed, more green
space and shade, public restrooms, and
safer pedestrian crossings throughout
the district. And lastly, there's a
strong demand for additional programming
and activities, particularly
family-friendly events, live music,
arts-related experiences, and recurring
community activations that encourage
regular visitation. And hopefully, with
the revival of Eagle Theatre, that will
help in that area.
Uh lastly, um we just want to look
forward to the red, white, and blueberry
festival this weekend on Sunday. It will
start at 10:00 and end at approximately
4:00, and that's located at the
Hammonton High School.
After that, we have the 250th events. We
will have a block party on the evening
of the 3rd, and then on the day of
Independence Day, look out for social
media postings and also in the local
paper. It's a full day events starting
with trolley rides and ending with the
fireworks in the evening. There's also
um a site available on social media.
It's called Hammonton 250th, so please
look out for um that information and we
hope everybody attends. Thank you.
>> You're welcome.
Uh quality of life and Councilman Calvi
>> Brown, please.
>> Thank you, Mayor. Um I'd like to begin
by again thanking the Historic
Preservation Commission, uh members of
the Environmental Commission, and uh
representative Mr. Bernado from the Oak
Grove Cemetery for um their their work
in putting on the Salem Oak Poster
Contest this year. I'd like to
congratulate again uh the winners of
that. It's a great way, as I mentioned
in my prior remarks, to kind of
integrate uh the curriculum with the
history of South Jersey, the history uh
that we have right here in Hammonton.
Coming up on June 26th, the Green
Committee will have their first
community market. It will be located in
the parking lot behind Cassiano's Bella
Via Bagel, right between Vine Street and
Bellevue Avenue. I believe it will be
starting at 5:00. There will be 20 or so
vendors there
for that. There will be
three additional community markets held
through the end of the summer, um each
falling on the fourth Fridays of the
months of July and September, and of
course the June one coming up this
month.
Councilman Marino and I participated in
a program at the Oak Grove Cemetery
earlier in the month of June. The Flags
for Forgotten Soldiers program, which is
sponsored by the Knights of Columbus
Council of Galloway Township. As part of
that, they put up approximately 600
flags. They were all along the White
Horse Pike corridor of the cemetery
honoring each of the 17 veterans who
take their own lives each day. It was an
especially moving experience to
participate in that. We were able
[clears throat] to get some resources
from
the Knights of Columbus individuals
who came and spearheaded that program
here in town. They will have on the
third floor of town hall that will
provide as well to our veterans
organizations for anyone who is in need
of those resources or any sort of
support.
It's It's The display will be up through
the end of the middle of July, I'm
sorry.
It'll be something for people to go and
see and sort of reflect on that. There
are individuals who
sacrifice their lives for our country,
who go overseas and fight. Something
that we should especially remember as we
approach the 250th anniversary of our
country. As we remember that freedom
isn't free, and that in far too many
contexts the battle doesn't end
overseas, but it continues for these men
and women when they come back home.
I would also like to make a quick
comment on
Councilman Rodio's remarks. The Eagle
Theater had their first show back this
weekend. I believe they have a full
slate of programming all through the end
of the summer. We have a lot of great
events coming up in downtown Hammond
across our town. The Red, White, and
Blue Berry Festival this weekend. Uh the
250th celebration which Councilwoman
Rodeo and the 250th Committee have
worked very hard on over the last couple
of months is coming up. The Mount Carmel
Feast. Uh so we have a full calendar
this summer here in Hammond. Uh that
concludes my report, Mayor.
>> Thank you, Mr. Calderone. We'll go to
education with Mr.
>> Shipley.
Thank you, Mayor.
School is finally closed. The middle
school and high school held graduate
graduation. They were held indoors due
to the
uh heat. Uh both went off without a
hitch.
About a half a dozen teachers were hired
and and introduced.
Uh also the ECEC finally will uh
now be named after Mr. Robert
Capparelli.
The Early Childhood Center will be known
as the RCECEC.
Uh
I really wanted to see this happen
several years ago and uh it it's finally
happened. Mr. Capparelli's donated
millions of dollars
uh
to the schools. [clears throat]
Save the taxpayers' money.
Also,
I attended my third Hispanic Business
Leaders Meeting. We meet every 2 weeks
for the Hispanic Heritage Month, which
is
September 15th to October 15th.
On September 18th,
again, we'll be having our big event
that I mentioned last month.
We still are looking for sponsors.
Uh we're looking for volunteers. We're
also looking for any Hispanic musicians,
dancers, and singers.
Uh we're going to be having some
information on Channel 9.
Uh you could also email Evette at allies
in caring at
i g u i l l e r m o
at allies in caring.org.
Um
Happy 4th of July. Uh we're going to be
celebrating like uh
JD said 250 years.
I'll be out there MCing some events and
judging some others. Can't wait to see
everybody and that's my report.
Thank you, Mr. Shippion. We'll go to
public works and Deputy Mayor Rodio.
>> Thank you, Mayor. We have a short report
tonight. We don't have any action items.
Two months in a row.
Okay. Anyway, we have some uh road
projects that will be coming up in
months ahead that are like West End
Avenue getting repaved and things like
that and uh different things that we're
still discussing in committee. So, I'll
just leave them sit, but there's five of
them that we have here. And then also, I
know Mr. Zuber has three different uh
things he's going to bring up. One of
them uh I won't take his thunder. It's
part of the lake. I'll let him No,
that's right. You do it and uh it looks
sharp anyway. And uh and he'll also be
giving us the report on the uh on our on
our bulky and our trash and and uh and
stuff like that. That really concludes
my report, everybody, and uh everybody
have a great month.
Thank you, uh Mr. Rodio. We'll go on the
water and sewer and Councilwoman Metro,
please.
>> Thank you, Mayor.
>> Yep. [clears throat]
>> All right. Um representatives from New
Jersey's Get Out the Lead Program, along
with members of town of the town water
department, will be will have a
informational table at the Blueberry
Festival this Sunday.
They will be available to provide
information and answer I'm sorry.
Provide information, [clears throat]
answer questions, and address concerns
regarding lead and galvanized water line
services.
Following the festival, the the
representatives will spend the next
three days, at June 29th, 30th, and July
1st conducting door-to-door visits to
older homes to identify potential lead
lines.
Residents who like to have their water
service line inspected may call
609-567-4000,
extension 120. A dedicated voicemail has
been established for this program.
Please leave your contact information
and somebody will get back to you.
Um
also uh
residents who have
older water meters that need to be
replaced or are reminded to contact the
water sewer department to schedule an
appointment to get your meter replaced.
And also, if you have uh problems with
your readings, also contact them for
that, too. Uh the water and sewer
department has hired Gary Annabelle to
fill in a upcoming vacancy within the
water department. He was He will start
on July 13th.
That's it. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Mr. Metro. Uh we'll do a loan
order report. Uh
Chief Real, please, if you don't mind.
>> Sounds like you're gaining a lot of
water out there.
>> [laughter]
>> That's so
That's how our office is, so that it
keeps us out of the torrential downpour
I'm going in. I'm okay.
Um
all right, so just to start things off,
I want to thank our community and all
who came to our community for where our
annual food truck festival. The layout
this year worked out immensely safer.
Uh we had safe passage through Bellevue
Avenue to all of the sections that were
uh hosted by food trucks on our side
streets. Uh and uh we had minor amounts
of medical heat-related incidents
uh with and AtlantiCare was out there to
help out with that, which is a good
thing. Uh which reminds me to our second
point of interest. As we are drawing
near to July,
um we are going to be
uh
more focused on e-bikes and all things
e-bikes going on in and around our
community.
Uh the 19th of July is the date that's
slated by the state of New Jersey for
uh, the enforcement to begin. Uh, it is
going to be educational enforcement to
begin with. Um, and something that I
will say right now that even before the
19th of July, if you're riding an
e-bike, wear a helmet. These things
pretty much, especially the ones that
move quicker, are electric motorcycles.
And we have had fatalities all through
our county uh, with people on e-bikes.
I don't want to see any in our
community. I really don't. I I support
electronic bicycles as a mode of
transportation.
Um, they're like electric vehicles, but
they have to be handled responsibly. We
also are going to depend upon our
parents in our community. There are a
lot of electronic bicycles that were
purchased for children under 15 that
they will not be allowed to ride.
So, on private property with safety
equipment, have at it. But on public
roadways or on sidewalks, it's going to
be a no-go.
Um, and we are going to start out by
contacting parents, have them come
retrieve bicycles, but at some point we
are going to be towing and impounding
them.
I don't want to our residents of
Hammonton to incur costs,
but I also don't want the youth of our
community to sustain the injury and or
fatalities in e-bike crashes. So, we are
going to work along with the community
to enforce educate and enforce this.
There are going to be growing pains with
it. We've already experienced and have
spoken with some of the youth in our
community and contacted parents about
some of the uh, riding of e-bikes that
have been going on. Um, so we want to
make sure that we're all on the same
page. As As as the information comes
down from our state highway traffic
safety with with how to obtain
registrations for it, how to ensure
them, and what licenses are going to be
required, all of that is going to be
available and I would be happy to
communicate with anybody in either
public forum or call on the station or
email me. I will get that information
out to you.
Um so that's really important.
We also have our Red, White, and
Blueberry Festival coming up this
Sunday. Um maybe a little bit warm, so
please
hydrate, stay hydrated. Uh we will have
AtlantiCare out there as well uh to help
with any type of heat-related or any
injuries that occur out there. Um the
marketing for this has gone statewide
and out of state. Uh since there are
going to be a lot of people in the area
visiting for uh the World Cup games, we
may see a lot more influx of people
visiting our community. So um we're
going to make sure that everything is
posted well, uh that we have a lot of
traffic assistance out there going on,
and I would hope that everyone comes out
to our Red, White, and Blueberry
Festival.
As well as that, uh July we are having
our block party on the 3rd and our 4th
of July celebration on the 4th, which is
going to start from bright and early in
the a.m. what 9:00 a.m. and continue out
until probably about 10:00 at night on
July 4th, where we're going to have our
fireworks out at the uh Hamilton High
School Complex. Uh we are going to have
officers out there for safety. We're
also going to have them out there for
traffic direction as we egress from
that. Uh remember, it is not like a a
Phillies game. Uh you know, we're not
going to have tailgating as of having
alcoholic beverages and things because
it is a school complex, but I do invite
people to pack things, pack a snack.
There's also going to be stuff out
there. Get a great seat. Uh we are going
to hopefully have people helping to park
uh cars in that area so that we can do
it in an orderly manner to make it
easier to get out. Um and uh
that pretty much wraps up everything we
have planned for our uh upcoming week,
sir.
>> One question, Chief. On the e-bike
situation, are the scooters that the
kids ride, is that considered an e-bike?
>> The scooters are not going to be
considered e-bikes, but the problem is
some of those scooters are kind of
hazardous because of the breakneck
speeds that they can attain. So, again,
even though it may be a scooter, there
is still also Title 39 rules that apply
to how vehicles are ridden on the
roadway, whether pedicycles, electric
cycles,
uh or e-bikes or scooters. Um and we
want to make sure that people are riding
safely. When people go against the grain
of traffic or crossing an odd manner on
the opposite side of traffic, it's a
recipe for a collision because drivers
are not looking to see that. Um and
they're not walking like a pedestrian,
they're zipping out into the traffic.
So, we want to make sure that
everybody's safe.
>> I appreciate it.
>> Okay.
>> Thanks, Chief. Our Our 16th of July
festival?
>> And Oh, yeah. Well, I figured
>> You'll be back in here before that,
right?
>> I don't know. We might be.
>> Oh, I don't know. Okay, but that's up to
you here.
>> We have our Mount Carmel Festival uh
coming up. It's going to be the 13th
through the 18th. Um we will make sure
that it is very safe and secure. We've
been working with our state partners uh
and Homeland Security to make sure that
everything is working well and that we
are good and safe. Uh so, all of our
information has been uploaded into the
New Jersey Office of Homeland Security
to make sure that if there's anything
that pops up on the radar of somebody
not wanting us to have a good time at
our festivities, then it'll come up.
There are a lot of municipalities that
are canceling festivities, canceling 4th
of July events because they feel that
they cannot keep them safe. I support
our police department and our community,
and we are doing everything in our power
to have every event that we always have
because it's not Hamilton if we don't
have these events.
>> Anybody else?
>> And one more thing, there is also on our
clerk's report
uh an
item to be voted on, I believe this
evening.
As I said, finding people that are
dedicated to being willing to be law
enforcement officers for our community
is something that is very important to
me. I want to make sure that we have
dedicated individuals. This is not a
half-hearted type of job, this is a
career. So, we have one on our clerk's
report
>> Yes.
>> uh from our civil service list to
hopefully bring to the board and get
trained up in our August Academy.
>> Perfect.
>> All right.
>> Great. Thanks, Chief. Appreciate it.
>> All right. Engineers' report.
>> Mr. Roman.
>> Okay. No action items as
Deputy Mayor Rodio said, but nothing for
your approval doesn't mean there's not a
lot of action. We've got a lot going on.
Really appreciate the coordination and
the efforts everyone has. So, our
report's in the agenda for your
information. If there are any questions
that you have, be happy to answer.
>> We have a lot coming up. We do.
We do.
>> Yes, that's good thing, too.
Major projects that need to be done.
>> Any questions from anyone regarding
uh engineering?
>> No.
>> Anyone?
Good. Good. Okay.
All right. Solicitor's report.
>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I have no action
items for this evening. Just want to
wish everyone a happy 4th of July.
>> Thank you, Mr. Malinsky. Uh a couple
things I have, I just want to wish all
the fathers a happy Father's Day from
yesterday.
Uh hope you guys uh gentlemen had a good
day.
Um
Mr. Calderon is working to get our
social services committee up and
running. Uh we'll be able to hopefully
handle some of those uh ice issues at
that time. And lastly, I just want to
make I mention this every year at this
time. Please be cognizant of your
watering of lawns. Um I know you want
your grass green and your ornamentals
healthy. Uh we are in a drought, uh
especially in South Jersey right now.
Uh water is expensive. Please be
cognizant of it. Please uh
try to limit your watering of your uh of
your plant material. Trying to save you
money and trying to conserve water for
for the town. So, please
um
just be cognizant of what you're using
uh water.
And that's all I have at this time.
Public Works report.
>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
On the public works piece, I just have
um a couple
items to talk about. The tot lot in Lake
Park is actually completed. Uh I think
it was completed uh on Friday.
The temporary fence was uh installed and
actually taken down today. So, it can be
used. Uh it really looks sharp out
there, Joe.
>> Yeah, it looks really nice. You did a
great job.
>> Thanks to Adam. He did a lot of hard
work for that and uh
you know, it really it really looks
great. So, that can be used now. Um
the town also secured a grant um
and an interest-free um loan from Green
Acres for upgrades to Lake Park. Uh the
improvements include a new pavilion,
additional equipment, and retention
basins. And the grant is the amount of
uh $600,000 and the interest-free loan
is $150,000.
Um the town also received grants from
the National Fitness Campaign um in the
amount of uh $40,000 and local
recreation improvement grants uh for
synthetic turf in the amount of $62,000.
With these two grants, um this brings
our match, uh, down for the Green Acres,
uh uh, grant down to $348,000.
And we're also looking to get, um,
DEP, or no, Green, um,
>> PPA, Pinelands Preservation.
>> Pinelands Preservation, thank you, Rich.
>> Close to 80,000.
>> Yeah, so that'll bring this down even
more. So, hopefully, you know, bring our
match down and that it'll help, uh, with
our with our, uh, Lake Park, uh,
improvements down there.
Of course, it's a take long process, as
Rich would say. And there's a lot of
improvements, but they're moving slow,
and that's just because of the process
of, you know, the grants and everything.
>> But the money's finally there now that
we can get these projects done that
we've talked about for
>> Correct.
>> 10 or 15 years. So, it's it's coming
it's coming to place, finally. It's
great to
>> a lot faster if you just write a check
for $400,000. It really would. So,
>> Um, under the town uh, the public works
schedule for July, uh, bulky waste
pickup will be from the 6th through the
10th.
Uh, brush pickup will be the 13th
through the 17th.
4th of July holiday, trash pickup will
be Friday, the 3rd.
Um, Fri- uh, Friday, July 3rd, we'll be
collecting on Thursday. So, we are
closed on Friday. Do not put your trash
out on Friday.
Put your If your trash day is on Friday,
please put it out on Thursday, they will
pick it up on July 2nd.
There's no collection on the 3rd.
Uh, county recycling pickup, July 6th
through the 10th, and July 20th through
the 24th.
Um, under the town clerk's report, we
got, uh, three items to approve.
Approval to transfer Michael Perona Jr.
Jr. from his position in the utility
department to the Hammond Police
Department as a police officer effective
August 17th of 2026. Salary per PBA
contract, and it's contingent upon civil
service rules and regulations.
Uh, second item, approval to hire
Garrett Annabal in the utility
department. This will be effective July
3rd,
2026, 40 hours per week, single
benefits, um, salary to follow current
contract, also contingent upon civil
service rules and regulations, and
finally approval of the white collar
contract for the employees. Approval is
read, please.
>> Motion on all those?
>> Motion, Mayor.
>> Metro first.
>> Marino second.
>> Discussion on any of the items from the
clerk's report.
Roll call, please, Frank.
>> Councilperson Calderone.
>> Yes.
>> Marino.
>> Yes.
>> Metro. [clears throat]
>> Yes.
>> R. Rodeo.
>> Yes.
>> S. Rodeo.
>> Yes.
>> Shippyone.
>> Yes.
>> Mayor Forgione.
>> Yes, motion.
>> Approval of bill list?
>> Motion.
>> Second.
>> R. Rodeo, Shippyone. Discussion on any
items on the bill list?
Roll call, please, Frank.
>> Councilperson Calderone.
>> Yes.
>> Marino.
>> Yes.
>> Metro.
>> Yes.
>> R. Rodeo.
>> Yes.
>> S. Rodeo.
>> Yes.
>> Shippyone.
>> Yes.
>> Mayor Forgione.
>> Yes, motion carried.
>> And under new business, we have
resolutions. We have resolution 104,
approval of tax, water, and sewer
refunds.
Resolution 105, adoption of a corrected
action plan for the 2025 audit.
Resolution 106, certification of the
2025 audit annual audit.
Resolution 107, authorize the issuance
of duplicate tax certificates.
Resolution 108,
establish a fee for mailing of tax
notices.
Resolution 109, approval of budget
addition for 159 for the DDEF. This is
for the police department, and this is
the amount of $43,727.79.
Resolution 110, approval of budget
addition also, 159 for clean communities
program, and this is in the amount of
$44,526.89.
Resolution 111 of 2026 is to reject the
bids for roof 54 water main project, and
rescinding resolution 98 of 2026.
Resolution 112, approval of
of a music games amusement games for the
Mount Carmel event.
And resolution 113 is approval of the
MOA and membership in the South Jersey
Aviation District. Approval was read,
Mayor.
>> All right, motion for all those?
>> So moved.
>> Second.
>> Should be all nature. All right, couple
things. One, on 111, which is the
rescinding the bid award on Route 54
phase one. So, we had a special meeting
here a couple of weeks ago. The motion
was made or the resolution was adopted
with a couple of
of items. One was DEP had to approve it.
Two was, I believe it was
public works certificate and three was
workers comp. The DEP the next day said
no, they were not going to approve the
contractor. We did receive an email from
them prior saying they were going to
award uh
but they didn't.
So, we huddled back up again and had
another emergency meeting. We got the
right people with the DEP and this has
been Rich, this has been James, it's
been it's been ongoing.
We spent a tremendous amount of time on
this, Frank, Sam, myself, Mr. Metro on
trying to figure this whole thing out.
So, we spoke with the section chief of
DEP. DEP is responsible for
administering the funds for H2 loans.
Here's what they're allowing us to do.
We're going out for rebid on phase one.
The bid opening is on Wednesday of this
week.
Once the bids are opened,
ARH will send a letter. They will pick
the lowest most responsible bidder. DEP
will concur on Wednesday and we move to
close on the loan on Friday. Closing
documents are already complete. So, they
shortened the amount of period that the
bid was able to go out one and two,
they're allowing us to close. We were
told we couldn't close the last 10 days
of the fiscal year, which ends June
30th. They're allowing us to close on
Friday, whatever that date is, 25th,
26th. So, that's where we are for phase
one currently. Wednesday, we'll see how
we do. Uh the hope is we get a few
bidders, we award. If that's the case,
we'll have a special meeting very
quickly next week. We could probably do
it 4:00 or 5:00. We'll figure out a day
that works,
uh and then we will award from the town.
But, DEP will trigger the mechanism for
us to go to closing, and then we can
award to the contractor next week. Uh
the big push here is a couple things.
One is we want to get in the state's
fiscal 20 2026,
right? 2026, which closes June 30th.
It's
it allows us to get $2 million in
principal forgiveness
uh for this phase, so we want to
certainly take advantage of it. Uh and
that's where we are.
Once July 1st opens, phase two is
already submitted to DEP. They'll review
it and approve us to go out to bid phase
two, which will be coming up in a couple
of months, but right now our focus is on
trying to get phase one, get bidders,
and then be able to award, get our $2
million in principal forgiveness, and
get this whole thing started.
>> Yes.
>> And we got to thank I got to thank we
all should thank the DEP. They didn't
have to do what they did.
>> No.
>> They they came forward for us. They did
and they and in 10 days they said, "You
get us what you we need and I'll make
sure it happens." And when the gentleman
said that, that was pretty impressive.
Great. And he was able to go ahead and
get that done for us, right? We thank
James. Yeah.
>> And and I will say that Frank has been
on the phone non-stop trying to help us.
James uh from ARH along with Anthony,
along with uh John, along with Rich,
it's been it's been an arduous task to
get us to this point. Uh
you know, when you're trying to meet a
deadline that the state gives you. The
state's moving as quickly as they can,
but uh you know, we're really, really up
against the year. The goal is that we
get a couple contractors, we get this
thing awarded, and get this project
moving. So, that's
what once we come back Wednesday once we
see Wednesday, we'll have some more
information for you, but that's where we
are on that.
The last thing is we were invited by
Congressman Van Drew.
They're forming a South Jersey
What is it called here? Membership the
South Jersey Aviation. It's a new
organization. There's no cost to the
town, there's no liability to the town,
but this encapsulates six airports. So,
it's us,
Woodbine,
>> Millville,
Atlantic City,
>> Uh
I can't think of the other one.
>> Who am I missing?
>> I don't know which one you're missing.
>> Well, there's six. I promise you there's
six. So,
uh we're going to meet quarterly. Frank
did the first Zoom meeting. They're
going to have a big uh kickoff on uh the
end of July with this. This is going to
open us up for um more publicity to the
airport, attract more airplanes to the
airport, and also open us up hoping for
some more grants and money. So, um I
think it's a you know, like I said,
there's no cost to the town, I think
it's a good idea. So,
uh we probably should do a roll call.
Anybody else? I'm sorry, I talked too
much.
Anybody? Anybody?
Let's do a roll call, Frank, because
we're recinding that resolution.
>> Bless you. Thank you. God bless you.
Councilman Councilman Carbone?
>> Yes.
>> Moreno?
>> Yes.
>> Metro?
>> Yes.
>> Paradio?
>> Yes.
>> S. Radio?
>> Yes.
>> Schiavone?
>> Yes.
>> Mayor Fazzone?
>> Motion carried.
>> And that concludes my report, Mayor.
>> Thank you. Thank you, Frank. Second
opportunity for the public to be heard.
Please come up.
>> Hey, is this Mike?
>> Yes.
>> Yep.
Uh good evening, Mayor and Council.
>> Please state your name and address for
the record.
>> Sure. My name is Jason Howell. My
address is 7611 Weymouth Road. Uh I'm
here representing Pinelands Alliance.
Uh I came mainly mainly to speak tonight
about the data center issue in general.
I've been
interacting with various towns on this
topic.
And it it it really is a concern for
many towns. Now now Hampton is in a
fortunate position in terms of water.
Because we sit on the Kirkwood-Cohansey
Aquifer. We're surrounded by the
Pinelands, so we have a great
water infiltration situation right in
town and the surrounding towns. So
Hampton's really in a strong position.
However,
as you can see we're in a serious
drought right now.
Fortunately, we're getting a little bit
of relief right now, but that really
might not do much in terms of resolving
that groundwater deficit. And I'm I
believe Hampton's wells are in the
Kirkwood-Cohansey.
So I would suggest being extremely
protective of that resource. It really
is the lifeblood of of the town. Without
that, farms, homes, businesses really
can't sustain themselves. So for the
long-term success of the town,
protecting that Aquifer, that
groundwater level
100% critical. So what these data
centers are doing is they're targeting
targeting areas with resources. Not to
be a benefit to the town, but to extract
that resource. So these are predatory
agencies, entities that are coming,
they're identifying places with
resources, targeting them for extraction
without regard to what happens to that
town long run. They're not looking to be
your neighbors, they're looking to
extract get what they can burden the
town and then leave. Now what some towns
are doing and many are directly around
Hampton including Winslow, Waterford, um
Williamstown, Mays Landing just just is
in the process of passing a data center
moratorium.
They are either banning or looking to
ban or at least passing a moratorium to
get a handle on what these things
actually want of the township. So I I
think one thing you could do to be
proactive with it is if you don't want
to go for a full ban,
perhaps consider looking at a moratorium
to better understand the issue. And
that's what Hamilton Township is doing
and I think it's a potentially a wise
move. So, I appreciate your attention to
this issue and wish you luck. Thank you.
>> Thank you very much.
>> Can Can you
>> If I may real quick.
>> Okay.
Just so everyone's clear, you know, data
centers currently aren't permitted in
the town of Hamilton. They don't aren't
a permitted use in any zoning district
nor do they fit under the definitions of
any permitted use currently allowed
under our code.
Ordinances are clear at section 175-145
A3 that where this chapter is silent as
to the allowance of a use in a zone
district, said silence shall be
interpreted to mean that the use is not
permitted. A use is not permitted in any
zone district of the town unless
specifically included as a use or
category of use in this chapter and in a
specific zone, meaning currently data
centers are not permitted within the
town of Hamilton. Anyone It's no
different than any other use that's not
permitted in the town of Hamilton. If
somebody wanted to come for any
non-permitted use, they'd have to file a
use variance to permit that use. And
then with Hamilton, they'd have to get a
certificate of filing from Pinelands and
get approval from Pinelands as well
before they could even appear before our
board.
Uh which would be the initial step. But
right now, just so we're clear, data
centers are not a permitted use within
the town of Hamilton.
>> Can I ask you a quick question? Yeah.
These towns that are actually
naming ordinances against data centers,
isn't that set them up for for legal
>> Again.
>> When you name it, you know, like a data
center ordinance
>> Well, no. There's certain standards. If
you're going to ban a specific use,
there's certain standards that you have
to follow and certain processes and
procedures you have to follow on which
to ban a use. But again,
Hamilton
Some of these Again, I don't know what
their zone their codes say in each of
these other municipalities, but I can
tell you right now Hamilton is clear and
they make clear in their ordinances that
unless it is specifically a permitted
use in the town of Hamilton, it is not
permitted. So, Hamilton does not
specifically permit data center uses.
Moreover, it doesn't fit under the
definition of any of the uses that we
currently allow in any of our zones.
So, as of right now, unless unless
Hamilton adopts an ordinance amending
its zoning code to allow specifically
data centers, data centers are not
permitted throughout the town of
Hamilton.
>> And solicitor, you just mentioned that
the Pinelands
they have to go to them first.
Pinelands
>> Yes, any application
>> anywhere in any any
any development within the town of
Hamilton is a complete Pinelands town.
So, any development that you want to do
in the town of Hamilton for site plan
approval or uh, subdivision approval,
even a change of use is considered
development, you have to go to Pinelands
and get Pinelands approval or
certificate of filing before you can
appear before any of our
>> So, that's final enough, right?
>> Yes.
>> That means it can never happen.
>> Again.
>> It can never happen.
>> Again.
>> It's
>> Unless Pinelands is going to change
their their wording.
>> As of right now
>> Which I doubt that very much.
>> Hamilton is right Hamilton is way way
ahead of ourselves. Way ahead of
ourselves.
Right now, it's not permitted in the
town of Hamilton.
So, anyone that wants to do it, it's
just it's not permitted in any of our
zones. Whether you look at our
industrial zone or business zone, it's
not permitted in any of our zones.
>> The commission wouldn't necessarily stop
it, right? That's there's no
uh, the the data centers aren't
mentioned in the CMP, right? So, it
would be it would really be up to the
township and potentially the Pinelands
Commission would have to look at the
zone, right? And and the uh, potentially
the water withdrawal.
But, there isn't a specific regulation
against data centers in the Pinelands
CMP. Um, as far as township zoning, I I
most of the towns are in the same
position. What they're doing is they're
getting ahead of the issue, right? So,
even though um
many towns have uh
exclusionary zoning.
Um, of course there's variances, um
there's redevelopment. So, those town
councils are choosing to get ahead of
the issue and and potentially
potentially make it a little more
difficult for a future town council to
do something without the public knowing.
And in Vineland you know, people were
very disturbed by the process, right?
Cuz it went through redevelopment.
People thought it was going to be a golf
course and then they they did a a
redevelopment amendment which um kind of
snuck it under the radar. So, there are
various loopholes um and what other
towns are doing, Hammonton,
Waterford, Winslow,
Williamstown, they're they're just
getting ahead of it. So, that's that's
why I mentioned that. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
Please.
Again, you're already ahead of it. You
don't permit it as it is.
There's no need for you to take any
action. Okay?
>> Hi.
>> Hello.
>> My name is Rhiannon Clark. I'm from
Millville, New Jersey. My address is 604
Shisler Avenue, Millville. Uh I am only
a handful of miles from the Vineland
data one center and I am also a member
of Sustain SJ. We are a Cumberland
County based nonprofit. We work to
educate South Jersey residents on the
topic of data center impacts and on ways
they can protect their communities.
I'd like to start by emphasizing the
importance of moving quickly on this
issue. Large corporations are currently
throwing applications out across the
region in hopes a town will take the
bait. A definitional ordinance is far
more protective for the people of
Hammonton than a promise around a
hypothetical variance application.
It is also worth remembering that if you
wait to act on this issue until an
application is received, you open
yourself up to litigation and any action
you take once an application comes
through can be framed as retaliatory as
is currently taking place in Monroe
Township.
You mentioned that in the scenario of a
variance application, you'd bring in
experts to educate you then. I assume
these experts would be the ones
originally slated to be here tonight. I
have personal experience from these
experts. I'm from Millville, where we
passed a comprehensive development
prohibition. At our commissioner board's
final vote on said ordinance, a number
of industry lawyers and an economic
developer from Loudoun County, Virginia,
also known as Data Center Alley,
attended and took over the meeting in an
attempt to intimidate our leaders. That
economic developer, Buddy Riser, is one
of the experts that was originally
scheduled to speak here tonight.
I want to finish by describing some of
the impacts of the Villon Data One
Center.
They have a sign out front claiming that
they are a quote sustainable data
center.
Meanwhile, through OPRA requests, we've
received internal communications in
which the developers state that during
peak times, they'll be pulling 2.2
million gallons of water per day from
the aquifer.
Those peak days are the hottest days of
the year, while we're under all while
we're all under the drought conditions
you mentioned.
We can't water our lawns or play with
our kids in the sprinkler, but they can
burn through three gal- 3,000 gallons
per minute.
As if that weren't bad enough, they're
also currently operating twice as many
generators on site as their permit
allows, over 60 industrial generators.
Along with the impacts to air qualities,
these
to air quality, these generators
contribute to excessive noise pollution
that's already been being experienced by
residents. There's already a lawsuit
filed by Villon residents living near
this project over the constant noise
violations. These data centers, more
than any topic in recent history, are an
issue that has pulled the people
together and into their local politics.
On both sides of the aisle, the people
finally agree on something. These
centers are a poison to the communities
that allow them. If you choose not to
take decisive action on this issue, your
constituents will remember it at the
polls. Please, as representatives of
your community, be proactive in
protecting them. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> Please.
>> Can I say something?
>> Yeah.
>> Can
Are you familiar with the Monroe
Township?
Cuz they they first they weren't allowed
to have data centers, then they allowed
it and
>> No, I think in Monroe there was a
redevelopment
agreement and a redevelopment plan that
allowed them. Then there was an
application for data center that got
approved.
>> I said he asked about Monroe Township.
It's my understanding in Monroe Township
there was a redevelopment agreement or
redevelopment in plan in place that
allowed for the data centers and after
it was approved they put a ban on data
centers.
>> Right.
>> And it's my understanding that's
they're have currently being sued over
that.
>> Cuz someone had come in and got an
application and right.
>> Uh I'd like to not talk about the
incidents for a second.
I'm Stephen Carr, 115 Grape Street.
I'd like to talk about resolution
106-2026,
certification of the 2025 annual audit.
Could you please look at the text bottom
of it?
Now therefore be it resolved that the
Council of the Borough of Winona hereby
states that it has complied with the
futures
AC530-65.
As a former resident of Winona, I found
it interesting to see that in this.
>> Well, obviously that's just just a
misprint.
Should be essentially
>> I'd like to see that corrected before
you submit it to the
>> I definitely will do.
>> It will be.
>> Yes, and just just so everyone's aware,
our CFO
from Winona, right Frank? Or he
represents them. So when he wrote the
resolution he put Winona.
>> We'll fix it. Thank you.
>> Thank you for that for bringing it to
our attention.
>> Thank you.
>> Hello. Uh my name is Ramon Mora Jr. Um
I am originally I'm from Violand. I come
up this way because I care about
>> please, for the record?
>> Uh yeah, it's 589 East Elmer.
Um
>> I came up this way uh to talk to my
neighbors and let them know
um not only as what's what's going on in
Violand, but in the district I am
running for Congress. I've been going
throughout the district and attending
many many town council meetings,
including at Monroe. Um with the Monroe
case in particular, they were a little
too uh slow to act in order to prevent
uh a data center from coming to town.
Um I implore you to get ahead of it just
like many municipalities throughout the
entire state and they are not being sued
for it. Um
you do not want to be another Monroe. Um
we've we've had sustained and the um
the Violand Commission Alliance
um come up and talk about the
environmental issues, but I want to
address what's happening over in
Carney's Point and kind of give you guys
a warning as to what you guys would be
allowing to come into your town even
though it's not a permitted use. Giving
a ban on file and in an ordinance would
give your planning board more teeth when
it comes to rejecting an application
that comes through. Um what's happening
in Carney's Point is they they are
becoming very warehouse-centric. There
are so many warehouses popping up. Those
warehouses are a way for data centers to
sneak in. A data center um and we're not
talking about regular data centers,
we're talking about these AI hyperscale
data centers.
The mayor over [clears throat] there
was uh you know, in glee about all the
warehouses coming in and not like 5
[clears throat] 10 minutes later started
talking about how
uh AI robotics are going to be taking
most of the jobs in those warehouses.
So, coming from an economic standpoint,
coming from an employment standpoint, um
you've already heard the environmental
standpoint. You guys definitely want to
get ahead of this. I would urge you to
look at other municipalities, take the
best of their ordinances, put them
together because again, it would just
give your planning and zoning board more
teeth in rejecting
rejecting a data center and not allowing
them to find a loophole that you guys
didn't think about. Um and and that's
pretty much it. I urge you guys and I
commend you guys for actually taking on
um you know, you hear about a lot of
negative negative things, but I commend
you guys for looking at fixing up the
water infrastructure in your town.
Not Not many town councils that I've
been to have been addressing their water
infrastructure. So, on that I at least
want to leave on a good note and commend
you guys for that. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> [clears throat]
>> Anyone else from the public? Please come
up.
>> I don't have a lot to say. My name is
Tom Rizzo. I live in Nesco at 3858
Maurice Avenue.
Um the reason I came, I was at the
zoning meeting last month and um
it came up and at that time they we were
told there were no applications and
which was fine.
But as this gentleman just said and the
gentleman before him and the woman
before him,
have to be proactive. Um
what we're seeing in Vineland, even
though Vineland is not technically in
the Cohansey Aquifer,
they're they're drawing incredible
amounts of water
from various
businesses and establishments
in Vineland that are taking water out of
the aquifer.
Um
personally,
I'm all about our ecology and our
environment and maintaining a good
environment because I think that's our
future.
Um
I just have a little
few pages here that describe some of the
usages of water and what have you by
data centers. Um
I wanted to see if someone could take
copies of these few pages and hand them
to the members so that
just a little background.
>> Sure.
>> And I'd like to provide
>> more
as time goes by as I research.
>> Thank you. Thank you very much. We
appreciate it.
>> Thank you.
I'll send an email to everybody. Thank
you very much.
>> Please come up.
>> Good evening. Yvette Samuel, 424 Fleming
Pike, Hammonton.
Really considered Elm, but
I'm in the Pinelands, so I'm concerned.
This is my first meeting trying to be
involved. And the only thing I would say
is
perhaps all of us in the neighboring
towns that especially Pinelands can you
know, it's power in numbers. And maybe
you all have to talk and see what the
other counties the other um towns are
doing in the other townships and you
know, there's great minds in all these
neighboring places and um
you shouldn't have to do it alone.
You know, Winslow shouldn't be alone and
Vineland, you know, has already got
their share of what's going on. So,
that's it.
>> Thank you very much. We appreciate it.
Anyone else from the public wishing to
be heard?
Going once.
Twice. Anyone?
All right. Uh
well, that concludes our meeting. I'll
accept a motion to uh conclude this
meeting.
>> So moved.
>> Second.
>> Shippy Owen, Calderone. All those in
favor?
>> Aye.
>> Thank you and don't forget July 16th
everyone and July 34th. Thank you.