Margate City, NJ Workshop & Commission Meeting February 5th, 2026

See the first one is the one
>> like to call the meeting to order
please. Johanna, will you read the
statement of compliance?
>> The notice requirement of the open
public meeting act for this meeting have
been satisfied. A copy of the annual
meeting notice was sent to the press of
Atlantic City Star Ledger posted on the
Bolton board in the municipal building,
the municipal website and filed in the
office of the municipal clerk. Please
turn off all cell phones. Please stand
for the pledge of allegiance.
>> Attention. Salute. I pledge algiance 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.
>> Johanna, please take the role.
>> Mayor Collins,
>> here.
>> Commissioner Blumb,
>> I am here.
>> Commissioner Horn,
>> here.
>> Welcome everybody. We will begin with
our engineering report. JJ,
>> afternoon, mayor, commissioners. Um, not
a whole lot of changes here. We're still
waiting for um Peland's uh
>> pressure. There you go.
>> All right.
>> There you go.
>> Okay. Um, dredging permitting. We're
still waiting for the um tidelands to
isu issue the um license for dredging. U
we're going to work on a process to um
if the private homeowners uh want to
dredge under a city permit um have some
process that that they need to come to
the city to at least um make sure that
they are aware of all the conditions of
the permit and and that kind of stuff
that going forward. Um
the rest Salt Marsh uh on Shelder Island
um Stockton's going to can't start until
uh middle of sometime in the spring on
that [snorts] um permit application to
do some work in testing the D has
requested
>> [snorts]
>> um on the pump station. We're uh working
on that pump station at the um Amherst
Avenue, the storm water one. first have
to then now go in and get um D approvals
for it before we can actually bid it and
everything. Um public works building. I
actually met with the electric company
this morning about um relocating one of
the poles and removing some of the guy
wires out there. Um I know there are
some uh changes that are um requested.
They're going to have to be completed
before we uh go out to bid. The parking
lot in Ventner Avenue was readvertised
and we have a bid opening on the
February 12th at 11:00 a.m. in the
municipal building.
Um [clears throat]
on the required storm water ordinance
and mapping issues D has, we've um sent
that information into them. We haven't
heard anything. Um, same with the uh
watershed improvement plan. That's at
the D. Um, we're working on the uh lead
service line outreach. There's um
obviously I just found out the letter
that's going to go with the water and
sewer billings been approved. So, that
should help get um the res, you know,
people to
give access give the access agreements
and self-report. We found it's been
working really good in in Longport when
it went with with their billing. It
seems like if you send it out
separately, people don't think it's
real. So, um, we're working on the, uh,
plans and specs for the deck renovations
at the Bloom Pavilion, though, we still
haven't heard anything from ACIA whether
or not they're going to provide any
funding on that. So, I'm not sure what's
what's going on there. um for the second
um lead service line replacement
project. We're working on the plans and
specifications and hopefully we will
have that up to D by the end of this
month so we can get it um approved and
um
get it going for construction to
probably start in the fall.
Um
really there's
the rest of uh the projects that are in
construction, the road program, um
they're still working on that. Um pretty
much everybody who's out there has been
delayed by the weather. Um but that
job's working. The streetscape out
front, that job's um still working. Um
the 2024 road program, they're in that's
that's working. the service line
replacements. They're still working on
that. Um we're waiting on the bike lane
painting on Atlantic Avenue till the um
construction gets done this spring. Um
they're planning on that project um to
begin next week. Um they got delayed by
the weather. Um and that's the piece
from uh Huntington to Mansfield.
um on well 10's redevelopment. Uh
they're going to do their um
the test the test tomorrow morning on
the flow test and then we'll see um
they'll be in next week to do the video
of the well and the 2025 road program.
We held the uh pre-construction meeting
this morning. Um and they're kind of the
way it was set up because of um we
didn't know when the funding would be
available to do that work. They're
looking at how what they're going to be
able to do this spring to be able to
button up everything before Memorial Day
and then finish the project starting in
the fall. So that's it.
>> Great. Thank you.
>> I have.
>> All right. We'll now move to our
department head reports. Chief Adams,
would you like to begin, please?
>> Thank you, Mayor. Uh, first off, I just
want to start off with, uh, two
compliments to our public works
department. One, with the snow removal,
considering the conditions with the snow
and then the rain and the snow again,
uh, you guys did a great job. You you
really did the best you could with the
conditions. And, uh, as far as our
streets compared to others, I felt that
they were in much better shape. So,
thank you for that. And also I I you
know I know I sent a text out this
afternoon but uh we had asked you guys
or tasked you with trying to clean up
the hallway on the second floor in this
building. Um when it was done originally
by the contractor it was a little bit
you know problematic since then and they
did an outstanding job with fixing
prepping and painting the walls
upstairs. It really looks great and I
want to thank you for that.
Um the fire department is in the process
of doing ice rescue training. Uh we
started on Tuesday and we're going
through tomorrow. We've been doing it
with the Atlantic City Fire Department
in the Thorough Avenue Lagoon and it's
been very beneficial for both agencies
as it gives us an opportunity to train
in an environment that we normally don't
see that often. We did have it last year
but prior to that it was at least eight
years prior that we had the freeze that
we had enough that the bay froze over
the way it did. But um we both you know
both departments were learning valuable
lessons from each other on ways that we
can improve and do things better and it
it was really great training and I I
actually had the opportunity to get
involved today and get in the water
myself. So it was really good to see
that and really good to be a part of it.
Um lastly just the cold water cold water
cold weather will persist Saturday into
Sunday this weekend. We're going to have
extreme cold temperatures, even colder
than what we've already seen, um, with
high winds gusting to over 50 mph.
There will be a light snowfall Friday
night into Saturday. I don't think we're
going to see anything accumulating. I
think it's an inch or less, but just
there will be some snowfall. And because
of the cold extreme and and the wind,
we've been dealing with a numerous
amount of water mane breaks. As far as
water made brakes in houses, um I know
we spoke about it every meeting for the
last three months. If you didn't shut
your water off, you got to make sure
it's done because it continues and we've
had a lot of problems with these breaks.
And you know, luckily some of them are
in the crawl space, but some are not and
they're really causing extensive damage
to people's homes. So, please make sure
you pay attention. I myself, we had
recently our
our water to our washer uh froze and
it's on an inside wall, but it's
connected to the garage. Thankfully, we
caught it in time, you know, we're able
to thaw it out. But pay attention to
that. We hadn't run the washer in 4 days
and it was enough that without running
the water that those lines froze. They
didn't freeze to the point that they
broke, but they did freeze. So pay
attention to that, you know, and just
make sure, you know, if you have to
leave a little water dripping. Um, but
that's all I have. Thank you, Mayor.
>> Great. Thank you, Chief Henson.
>> Thank you, Mayor Commissioner. I will uh
be brief just to dovetail off what Chief
Adams said and especially with public
works. I think you can see the state of
our roads are much better than a lot of
other areas in the county. I think
that's a credit to public works and the
job they they did. I heard them out all
night all Sunday, last Sunday. So, it
was really good to see, but at the same
time, we can see how slippery the
roadways have become. You know, there
are places where it's a little harder to
pass because there is snow buildup. So,
I I say it to everybody, take your time.
Um, you really can't see all the ice.
We've had a few more motor vehicle
accidents just recently because it does
get slippery out there. So, I said I
always say take your time. It's going to
take a little bit longer to get wherever
you have to go. Parking is going to be a
little bit more difficult at times
because there's only so many places we
can put frozen snow. And as we all know,
there's frozen snow all over the place.
Like I said, with another storm coming,
just everybody to be aware and like I
said, just be be careful when you're out
there at night. Like I said, just uh be
safe while you're driving in this
inclement weather. That's all I have.
Thank you, Palmer.
>> Good evening, mayor and commissioners.
Uh the building department continues
normal operations with steady permit
activity.
With the upcoming high winds, we do ask
contractors to secure your job sites. I
typically send them an [clears throat]
email reminding them of that. Um, we are
contain continuing to bring the building
department's web page up to date with
updating our forms for 2026 and to try
to make the permit process as clear and
userfriendly as possible.
But we do encourage anyone planning a
project to just contact our office if
they have any questions.
I also attended today's meeting of the
New Jersey Coastal Coalition.
Margates's participation helps support
our CRS rating. So, that's a monthly
meeting that we attend. That's all I
have.
>> Great. Thank you, Pat.
>> Thanks, Commissioners. Uh, with this
record weather and all that, we had um
49 shut offs. That would be houses,
especially with the help with the fire
department helping us out with that.
been 11 calls for frozen pipes in the
houses and uh seven water main
emergencies which is we had to call in
for emergency markouts to uh repair. So
it's a lot also with the uh with the
snow and the ice. I know you get a lot
of we got a lot of complaints and stuff
but what happens is we with the salt is
very ineffective when it's cold. So if
you're below 20° forget about [snorts]
salt. I mean, we went through like 75
tons, but it's just not going to do
anything until you warms up the
temperatures. So, all in all, I think we
did a great job. And uh hopefully we
don't have to see that again for a
while. But also, um our public works
secretary came up with an idea with
trying to get phone numbers, addresses,
and uh Margate address and a phone
number and a person to contact with um
to get a hold of these people that with
these broken houses and the water pipes.
A lot of these houses we come across are
in like a trust, some kind of trust, and
there's no phone numbers, and you can't
really Google search who owns the trust,
and it's really hard. So, she worked
with Mike, the IT guy, that came up with
an email to uh contact me at
margate-j.com.
And if you just put your address in
here, your Margate address, phone
number, and a person to contact, that
way we can get a hold of you when we do
have an emergency. So, I think it's
pretty pretty good idea. I'll pass this
along to Shannon and uh Chasse where I
get on the website and face uh social
media. And that's all I got.
>> Great. Thank you, Pat. Scott,
I'll be brief. Mayor, commissioners, uh
I see we have the resolution designating
the month of August as Veterans
Recognition Month. Now, I do recall that
Mr. Dixs wanted to perhaps be here. I
don't know if he knew that this was on
tonight or not. Should we still approve
it tonight or wait till he's here or
he asked to be here. I remember him
asking if you recall that.
>> Or we could approve it and then have him
come again.
>> And you have his contact information,
correct?
>> Yeah, I do.
>> So, why don't we pull it and and contact
him? And
>> or you want to approve it tonight and
then but have him come again or
>> I think it'd be nice if he was here when
we approved it. So,
>> yeah. Yeah, I mean he put a tremendous
amount of effort in this and he he's
going up and down all over New Jersey,
but he lives over in Ocean City
and yeah, maybe maybe pulling it would
be the best move and I'll contact him
and uh see if we can get him over here
for the next meeting.
>> Okay, sounds that might be the right
thing to do.
>> I agree.
>> Other than that, I just want to
compliment the police and fire. My wife
took a bunch of pictures of you guys
training in the water. That's so
important that you have that skill
developed because every once in a while
somebody there's a reason you have to go
in that ice cold water. Danny, I hell I
would have paid to see you go in there.
I would [laughter]
I would like to see that. And uh I do
think our public works guys did a
tremendous job dealing with that ice and
snow. So [snorts] that's all I have.
Great. Thank you, Scott. Pat,
[clears throat]
>> just want to start off by saying kudos
to all of our departments. Um, the fire
department, police department, public
works with the the mess that's that's
been given to us regarding the snow and
all that stuff. Um, additionally, like
our construction folks and zoning with
their inspections, having to deal with
delays, u closings and so forth and so
on. Um and everybody just seems to come
together and make sure that you know uh
when we do meet with bad weather that
the city steps up and contacts people to
make sure that the sites secure and that
we're prepared. So kudos to to all the
departments um that we have. Um
on my report basically I I had
negotiations with the PBA uh the FMBA
and the MCEA. Um I've reviewed uh some
of the cyber related security with our
our uh cyber guy, our in-house computer
guy along with our um company that that
handles that. Um spoke to them about
some of the security issues related to
our cyber security. Um, again, reviewed
the snow related briefings, made
decisions related to, uh, closing
delays, uh, those types of things. Met
with our GIF representatives regarding
pending litigation. I spoke with, uh,
our auditor related to the water bills,
um, and the financial related issues to
that. Um, we did conduct two rounds of
interviews, the open position of
finance. Um we've moving closer to uh
making a recommendation um for that
position. Um consulted with the
comproller with regard to budget, some
financial related issues. Um met with
the officials from the school regarding
the bond ordinance that's on tonight. Um
also spoke with Joel and Leon um as far
as how that's going to all play out at
the end. Um was deposed for the pending
construction litigation and we're moving
forward with our website. um rebuilding
the website or updating at least um the
committee that's running that they're
actually uh going to be uh getting
together tomorrow with another
presentation. So um all that stuff's
moving forward and at at this point
that's my report.
>> Thank you Johanna.
>> We are still looking for the um
businesses in Margate to get their
merkantal licenses. There are a few that
have not gotten it to this point. Dog
licenses are on sale for the 2026 year.
All you need is proof of rabies. That's
all I have.
>> Thank you. All right. We will now open
up public comment. If anyone has any
comment on any of the items discussed
during workshop, please step forward.
Uh Steve just want [cough]
mentioned about the uh coastal coalition
meeting yesterday. Uh I want to say that
Margate is really well represented. Uh
PAR
was there and I sat next to Chuck
was over there. One thing that they talk
about at the uh at the coastal coalition
meeting is the uh is the app. I don't
know what it's called, but it seems like
it's a really really good app about it's
an an alert map. So, it tells you in
real time where the flooding is if
there's flooding. I was wondering I hope
we're moving on it because I know that
there's a time limit on it. Uh a lot of
things going on. We rep the coalition is
funded by FEMA and that may go away, but
uh there is time for us to get in and I
think that that's going to close on us.
I was just curious if we have intentions
of [clears throat] getting on to that.
>> Yeah, Palma had sent an email to the
commission and um hopefully we'll have
something done shortly on that.
>> Okay. Um I I I see it as a very very
positive step. Uh even I have a question
on that. Like on the 4th of July on
fireworks, people leave this city.
Jerome Avenue will sometimes backed all
the way up to the ballpark, you know,
and it it can take you about 45 minutes
to get from the ballpark through the
toll bridge. And I was wondering if that
would be a
if that would tell us that, you know,
because I think this camera is going to
be on the
Jewish community center, so we'll be
monitoring the bridge and the traffic.
>> I know that. So Dan Adams, Chuck Lear,
and myself had a meeting uh on Zoom with
the coalition. Joe Maruchi was
explaining the web app to us, and we did
have some visuals of it. He said that
it's not only just for like flood
related updates, but the city could use
it to show, you know, city events, road
closures, all sorts of things. And there
is no cost to the city if we get in
before they um stop taking cities
because they only have a certain amount
of funding from FEMA to for the app.
>> Yeah.
because because I I did field a lot of
phone calls from people who were out of
[snorts] town at our last storm and just
to know what streets are flooded I think
is a very positive asset to our
that's
>> great thank you Steve
>> any other comment on workshop
is there a motion to close public
comment
>> motion Second.
>> Mayor Collins.
>> Yes.
>> Commissioner Blumbberg.
>> Yes.
>> Commissioner Horn.
>> Yes.
>> Is there a motion to adjurnn?
>> Motion.
>> Second.
>> Mayor Collins.
>> Yes.
>> Commissioner Blumbberg.
>> Yes.
>> Commissioner Horn.
>> Yes.
>> [cough]
>> like to call the meeting to order,
please. Johanna, would you read the
statement of compliance?
>> The notice requirements of the open
public meeting act for this meeting have
been satisfied. A copy of the annual
meeting notice was sent to the Atlantic
City Press, the Courier Post,
posted on the Bolton board in the
municipal building, the municipal
website, and filed in the office of the
municipal clerk. Please turn off all
electronic devices.
>> Please stand for the pledge of
allegiance.
>> Attention salute. I pledge algiance to
the flag of the United States of America
and to the republic for which it stands.
One nation under God, indivisible,
[clears throat]
with liberty and justice for all.
>> Johanna, will you take the role, please?
>> Mayor Collins
>> here.
>> Commissioner Blumb,
>> I am here.
>> Commissioner Horn,
>> here.
>> Is there a motion for the approval of
the January 22nd, 2026 regular and
workshop meeting minutes? Motion
>> second.
>> I'm sorry.
>> Motion.
>> Motion and second for
>> Mayor Collins.
>> Yes.
>> Commissioner Blumbberg.
>> Yes.
>> Commissioner Horn.
>> Yes.
>> All right. We will now open up public
comment on [snorts] resolutions. If
anyone has any comment on the
resolutions on today's agenda, please
step forward.
Is there a motion to close public
comment on resolutions?
>> Motion.
>> Second.
>> Mayor Collins?
>> Yes.
>> Commissioner Blumbberg?
>> Yes.
>> Commissioner Horn?
>> Yes.
>> Johanna, will you proceed, please?
May I have a motion for the introduction
of ordinance number two of 2026, an
ordinance amending chapter 67, alcohol
beverages of the code of the city of
Margate City, County of Atlantic, and
state of New Jersey.
>> Motion.
>> Second.
>> Mayor Collins.
>> Yes.
>> Commissioner Blumbberg,
>> yes.
>> Commissioner Horn,
>> yes. May I have a motion for ordinance
number three of 2026 bond ordinance
appropriating $4,200,000
and authorizing the issuance of
$4,200,000
in school bonds and notes of the city of
Margate for various school improvements
or purposes authorized to be undertaken
by the city of Margate, New Jersey.
>> Motion
>> second.
>> Mayor Collins.
>> Yes. Commissioner Blumbberg.
>> Yes.
>> Commissioner Horn,
>> yes.
>> May I have a motion for resolution
number 37, 2025, authorizing bill
payment and claims?
>> Motion.
>> Second.
>> Mayor Collins.
>> Yes.
>> Commissioner Blumberg.
>> Yes. That would be 2026.
>> Bill payment claims is 2026.
>> No, no, no. You 37-2026.
>> Okay. 2026.
Thank you.
>> We can relive all the fun we had.
>> Okay, I'm ready. [laughter]
>> Mayor Collins,
>> yes.
>> Commissioner Blumberg,
>> yes.
>> Commissioner Horn,
>> yes. May I have a motion for resolution
number 38-2026,
a resolution amending the 2020
2026 annual water billing cycle to
include September 1st, 2026 through
December 31st, 2026.
>> Motion
>> second.
>> Mayor Collins,
>> yes.
>> Commissioner Blumbberg,
>> yes.
>> Commissioner Horn,
>> yes. Resolution number 45-2026
has been tabled to the next meeting for
the consent agenda. May I have a motion
for resolution number 39-2026
through resolution number 44-2026
resolution number 36-2026
through resolution number 49-2026.
So just that's 46-2026
through 49-2026.
>> 49-2026.
>> Motion.
>> Second.
>> Mayor Collins.
>> Yes.
>> Commissioner Blumbberg.
>> Yes.
>> Commissioner Horn.
>> Yes.
>> All right. We will now open up public
comment. If anyone has any comment,
please step forward. State your name and
address.
>> [clears throat]
>> Stephen Alman 9003 Amber Staff.
Um I know that if people have questions
when they're on Zoom, they have to
submit them to uh Johanna by 3:00.
However, if somebody is on Zoom and they
have a question about uh department head
and or comments that they hear in this
room now, for example, uh there ought to
be a way for them to be able to uh
either do a a chat, which is a a Zoom
feature, or some other thing. And if
not, why not?
>> Yes, Steve, I agree. And, uh, talked to
Pat today about trying to fix this so,
uh, our
people watching on Zoom can comment in a
more efficient way. And, uh, you know,
asked Pat to come up with a way to do it
because there was a issue with the Open
Public Meetings Act that we had to to
resolve.
>> Originally, we had the chat, uh,
available for people to ask questions
for the meeting. However, we weren't
able to put them up uh on the screen to
make them public, and that was a
problem. So, we have to reconfigure or
refigure out how we're going to do that.
Um and uh there's some maybe some
additional costs or additional
procedures that we have to do to make
sure that we comply with the Open Public
Meetings Act.
>> Thank you. Yep.
>> Thank you, Steve.
Is there a motion to close public
comment?
Motion.
>> Second.
>> Mayor Collins.
>> Yes.
>> Commissioner Blumbberg.
>> Yes.
>> Commissioner Horn.
>> Yes.
>> Is there a motion to adjurnn?
>> Motion.
>> Second.
>> Mayor Collins.
>> Yes.
>> Commissioner Blumbberg.
>> Yes.
>> Commissioner Horn.
>> Yes.
>> Thank you everybody.