February 12 2026 Ventnor City Commission Meeting

Leaving calling to order
the February 12th Vener city commission
meeting. Um if I can have everyone rise
for flag salute, please.
>> 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.
>> Thank you.
>> Roll call. Lisa.
>> Commissioner Langrath
>> here.
>> Commissioner Mento
>> here.
>> Mayor Kel
>> here. Lisa, can you please read the open
public meeting announcement?
>> Pursuant to the open public meetings
act, adequate notice of this meeting has
been provided. The agenda for this
meeting is posted in city hall and on
the city's website. Thank you. Lisa,
could you please read the live streaming
announcement?
>> The city of Vander offers live streaming
and the option of public comment via
remote access as a convenience to the
public. In the event remote access is
unavailable for any reason beyond the
city's control, the city will not pause
or stop the live meeting. The city
reserves the right to discontinue remote
access at the discretion of the city for
any future meetings.
>> Thank you. This evening, we have no
presentations. We have no department
head reports and we have no capital uh
discussion. Uh the following items are
scheduled for action
um
at the uh the two at today's commission
meeting 212. Um we will have the minutes
approval uh regular minutes. We were all
present for all of these so we don't
need uh everyone can vote. It's uh
November 3rd, 2025, December 18th
20 uh and December 18th regular and
executive sessions. So, uh then we'll
have the uh new ordinance introduction.
Uh we have none
and we have three adoptions
uh ordinance adoptions. The first one
is uh 2026002.
This is uh adopting the pension plan
that we've discussed at our last meeting
um which will be um titled the city of
Ventner pension plan for lifeguards in
accordance with NJSA
43-23.
Any comments on that?
>> Yes, mayor. Just just to be clear, this
is a readoption of an ordinance that was
first adopted back in 1987.
Uh and the state the office of the state
comproller did an audit of all of the
municipalities lifeguard pensions those
that have them made some recommendations
for changes and the this ordinance uh
incorporates those changes that the
office of the controller wanted us to
make.
>> Right. Thank you.
>> The pension funds a requirement correct
>> for for us as a yes. It's a statutory
requirement. It's a law that was adopted
almost a hundred years ago, requiring
uh cities of the first class or fourth
class, I'm sorry, which is basically
defined as cities along the eastern
seabboard uh to have a lifeguard
pension. So towns that are burrows, for
example,
>> don't have the best lifeguards in the
country. This is a state requirement. So
when somebody says to me,
>> why are you doing a pension? Because we
have to.
>> Correct. and you've had it since 1987
>> statutory, right? Uh the next is one
that we've already um we've already had
public comment on. This is the adoption
for 003 establishing a range of salaries
with officers and employees in the city
of Vner repealing all other ordinances
or parts of their their hereto for
adopted um which are inconsistent with.
So this is just the ranges that will go
on the record. Yep. Um right.
>> Yep.
>> Next is uh 2026
04.
Uh this is the um authorizing um
lifeguard salary and wages.
So this is their salary scale according
to the um uh our our our our roles
there. Correct.
>> Yes. We we do it uh separate for them
because they're a large group. You'll
see that the the first one that covers
the general employees and non-union
people. Uh the the uh beach patrol does
not have uh collective bargaining,
right?
>> So we set their salaries by by
ordinance. It has a a scale a step
system that was incorporated. I don't
know when, but this continues uh to
follow along that uh method of ass of
establishing salaries and expectations
for future years. So this is intended I
think to last for three years. So for
26, 27 and 28.
>> Okay.
>> Just just to just a quick comment. Um in
the past I have not voted on lifeguard
um matters,
>> but uh Evan has not been a lifeguard now
for five years and who knows what his
plans are when he gets out of the Navy
in another year. So um I think I'm okay.
Cat, am I okay to vote on these?
My son was a lifeguard before he went in
the Navy.
ask him about the
>> and he's not he's no longer a lifeguard
and he it's
>> he'll be free to apply when he comes
back
>> right
>> he could be a lifeguard. How long does
this go for? I'm at 28.
>> Three years.
>> Oh, maybe you shouldn't.
>> All right. You know what? I'll abstain.
>> Okay.
>> I'll abstain from both of these then.
>> Can I come back and apply?
>> He could. Yeah. Like a year from now.
This is a three year
>> because his his plan would not allow
that. But his plan wants to be a fireman
is what he wants to do. So then he can't
be on our beach patrol.
>> Lance Lance, as you say, can change.
>> Exactly. So I'm I'm going to recuse
myself from those two items.
>> You can I don't I don't think it
presents a a conflict though, Lance, at
the present time. For example,
>> I'm voting on his salary and potential
pension. So I'm uncomfortable.
>> No, but you voted on the fire department
as well. What if he decides he wants to
be a firefighter?
>> But he's not a fireman now. He he has
been a lifeguard for
eight or nine years and his Navy service
counts towards that pension. So
>> it doesn't it doesn't his H his Navy
service will not count towards this
pension.
>> That's been in previous agreements. So
that's
>> his pension as a lifeguard.
>> Correct. His his service time in the
military does not translate into time
served in the for purpose. You know what
it does count as? Maybe not to the
pension, but it's time and to his years
on the beach to his salary.
>> Yeah, I think for seniority.
>> That's what it is. I apologize.
>> And where he would be placed on the
salary scale. That's true.
>> That is true. That's where I heard it.
I'm sorry.
>> Whatever you're comfortable with. I
>> Yeah, I'm going to recuse
>> um just to um just to because we're in
the workshop and I'm one thing adjacent.
I have been discussing with uh Chief uh
Funk about potentially adding a beach on
the south side of the pier as an
additional surfing beach uh after
talking to some people. It's already a
nonswimming beach and it's um
potentially could be utilized for
surfers on the south side as well,
>> like right adjacent to the pier
>> on this the the well right now this the
the main surfing beach is on the north
side of the pier. Right. Right. on the
Atlantic City side. So, some surfers
have been asking about adding and so
this is the as part of as part of a
workshop. I thought I'd bring it up. It
would incl It would include have
potentially having a guard stationed at
the pier, an additional stand um to have
surfing on both sides of the pier.
>> Would you move that?
>> That's the request.
>> That swimming beach further away.
>> Well, no, there's no swimming beach. I'm
talking just adjacent to the
>> I know exactly what you're talking
about. Yeah.
>> It's the beach we all go to, but I'm
concerned that that
>> that surfers surf don't always stop
where they're supposed to,
>> right?
>> And if you got a a a drift down beach,
surfers are going to be riding that wave
right into that first beach there, which
is Sacramento, right?
>> Uh Portland
>> Sack,
>> is it Sacramento?
>> Which is right there. So, I would I I'm
fine with it. I think the the surfers
will love it, but I think I would move
the sack beach down a half a block.
>> Right. I I agree. I agree. That's a good
It's a good comment. I'll bring that.
>> That's all. Just because look, these
guys are I'm on a great wave, man. I
don't care who's in my way. I'm coming
in. Right.
>> So, that's all.
>> Right. Right. Understood. I'll bring it
up.
>> Yep.
>> Um so, moving forward, we have
resolutions and contracts. Uh um this is
a consent agenda. So these will be
approved by consent. Um first resolution
is 056.
Um this is accepting the retirement of
Brad Cook effective April 1st.
Um
so this is a um uh um we'll have some
normal progression of um
uh of of lattering up the um u the ranks
as um as Brad leaves. So we're preparing
for that. Um
uh next would be 057.
Uh, unless you have any comments on
>> Thank him. Thank him for being a great
fireman. Did a good job for us.
>> I think we should include how long he's
been.
>> Yeah, I I I think it's in the notes. I
saw that somewhere.
>> Yeah.
>> See it in the resolution. Is it there?
>> Well,
>> July 1, 2004.
>> I'll bring some more
>> I'll bring some color more more detail
into that. We didn't have a chance to
talk about that too much with uh the
fire department. It's been a busy It's
been a busy week with the fire
department
>> um with uh with frozen pipes and frozen
equipment. So, I'll get into that in my
comments a little bit.
>> Yeah.
>> But I will um pass on some more
information about Brad Cook. His whole
family is a a great uh asset to the
city. Um 057.
Um, this has to do with the uh shared uh
uh re-upping their our shared service
agreement with the ACUA
uh for solid waste, bulk waste,
recycling, and yard waste collection
services uh extending their contract
term beginning January 1st through
December 31st. Um any comments or uh
color to add to this? It's a long-term
relationship. I have no
>> Yeah, I mean
I I did notice in some of these things
that they provide us when they when they
give us their their monthly and even
annual reports, our recycling numbers
have consistently gone up. And what we
should be telling people in our
newsletter, maybe that's a good idea to
talk to Sarah about, is start making
people aware that whatever they put in
recycling, we don't get charged for,
>> right,
>> as part of these tipping fees. So,
anything that is honestly recyclable, we
don't want to put things in there that
aren't recyclable, but the more we put
in that is recyclable and keep it out of
our our trash stream, it lessens our
tipping fees. So, that's just a
>> and that's remarkable for Ventner
because overall recycling is going down.
So, that you know, uh the cities, the
people ought to pat themselves on the
back.
>> Yep. I think it has a lot to do with
those big those big receptacles.
>> Absolutely. Absolutely. Right. Um so
moving forward to 058.
Um this is uh uh one of our road closure
um indemnification for the county for
the use of at of uh uh Veterary Avenue
for the block party, something we do
every year. Um and the next one 059 is
the same thing for the holiday parade.
So, these are just preparing us for
those two special events. Any comments
on that?
>> No, there's a a lot of these on here
tonight and I asked Donna to be here in
case we have any questions although
because you have all the events here
that need to have a resolution,
>> road closures, that's that that sort of
thing, a resolution. So, I'll just uh go
go forward with them if there's any
questions. Um, so we have the road
closure for the block party on Ventner
Avenue as 058. We have 059 which is road
closure for the holiday parade also
Ventner Avenue. These are county roads.
060
this is for Maamanja Pasta dinner party
>> also called dinner with Maria.
>> Um
and that is uh 060.
Um and then we have uh closing of the
boat ramp and certain road closures
around Ski Beach. This is for um this is
for uh cancer uh bike ride every every
year. So this is this year it's falling
on June 5th
>> uh and June 8th from June 5th to June
8th. So it's a great event. Um then we
have uh 062
which is
um parking on uh let's see here state
authorizing no parking from on Atlantic
Avenue uh from Portland to
Fredericksburg along the beach blocks of
New Haven to Newport Avenue. And this is
for the Kenny Whan Memorial Run. Feeling
better. Uh I might do that this year. Uh
062
063
um this is to uh this is uh possibly
Lance you may have this is for
signalization so this is a submission of
a grant application
uh for with the New Jersey de department
of transportation correct do you have
any comment on this
>> yes this is for the signalization change
out on Atlantic Avenue u we're we've
been trying to get funding for this we
have we've set aside some funds But
look, if they're going to give us some
from free dollars, we're going to try
and get some more dollars that we don't
that don't come out of our pocket. So,
>> this would not change the signals in any
way or the the intersections. What it
does is it changes out the the guts, the
computerization in the boxes and then
synchronizes those lights the same as
Ventner Avenue. And we would tie it to
the same system that the county has that
that regulates those lights on Ventner
Avenue.
Okay. Looking forward to
>> had it designed. Yeah, we've had it
designed for a few years. It's just
we're waiting to get some some dollars
to put it in.
>> Great.
>> Lance, are we looking uh to do all of
Atlantic Avenue?
>> Yes.
>> Okay,
>> great. That'll be a huge quality of life
factor. Um
so that is 063.
064 is
um authorizing a work change order for
the reconstruction of the basketball
court. I see that's a a um a decrease,
Lance.
>> Yes, it is. So, our our look, our our
engineers that we hire through the pool
and then our city engineers managing it
have been doing a good job at at value
engineering these projects and making
sure they're not wasting money on them.
We saved almost $24,000 on this
contract. It was down from to $26,325,
which is, like I said, almost $24,000
less than the bid price. So,
>> wow. That's I mean every little bit
helps, you know.
So, and the basketball court came out
great.
>> Great. Glad to hear and glad always glad
to see it a decrease.
Okay. Uh next is 065. This is a
resolution establishing salaries for
employees for the year of 2026. Um, we
have one correction.
Um, on page
two, I guess it is for city
administrator Tom Cherone. That should
read 124200.
It's already unanimous.
>> Okay.
>> And I'm not trying to be like noble
about this,
>> right?
>> I'm adequately compensated and I really
and truly do not want it. I'm just going
to It's just going to go to the federal
government anyway, so keep it.
I rarely disagree with you, Tom.
>> But we felt you should have the same,
>> but neither are Christmas gifts or
birthdays or there's a lot of
>> those
humbug.
>> I'm gonna All right. I'm gonna
>> Yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna
continue that and uh disregard what Tom
said. 124200.
>> Okay.
>> Um next would be um
066.
That is uh refunding a duplicate permit
payment to John Durnney. I believe this
is a an amount that was not utilized for
or a duplicate permit payment. So
>> refund there. Um 067
is another road closure. This is during
certain special events. This is all of
the concerts and um and ski beach
events. Correct.
>> 067.
>> Sorry.
>> 067 is state of this is authorizing Oh,
this is open container. So this is um um
>> but it's also road closures. It's all
three. You had it. That's right.
>> Road closures, no parking, and
suspension of open container during
certain special events.
>> Got it. Uh 068,
this is um authorizing no parking and
street closures during the holiday
parade. And uh 069, this is authorizing
no parking and road closures during the
block party.
and 070.
This is um approving the provisional
appointment of Siri Applebomb to
assistant controller. I believe this is
our second um
>> yes
>> right it's already
>> yes we've had some changes first of all
in the finance office we had a
resignation and then as we had noted I
think the prior meeting Siri
successfully completed the classes for
the certified municipal finance officer
and then she passed the exam so she is
now um very importantly certified as a
finance officer and we're moving her
into the vacancy position right
>> as uh the title as you mentioned
very welld deserved
>> controller. Mayor, if I if I may just
back you up for just a moment because if
anybody wasn't paying close attention,
uh it would seem as though there was
some redundancy here with these closures
and
>> Yeah, I agree.
>> The first two were actually authorizing
us to indemnify the county because
they're unions. The these resolutions
are authorizing the road closures and
the suspension of the open uh beverage
regulations and that sort of stuff. So
that's the difference between the first
ones you mentioned and these.
>> Thank you. Right. That was that that did
require some clarification. So these are
internal. The others were external if
you will. Um
071. This is authorizing the closing of
the boat ramp and authorizing no parking
at Ski Beach on April 25th and October
3rd for the annual community shred event
and textile recycling program.
And similarly um there is uh 072
which is also authorizing the closing of
the boat ramp and no parking at ski
beach and surrounding streets on
September 4th and 6th for the Ventner
city food truck festival which is new.
>> Yeah, it's through the 6th.
>> Through the 6th. Yes. And the goodbye to
summer concert.
>> So this would be this is the second
year. Okay. Goodbye to summer concert.
So it's a Labor Day weekend. Um we are
coupling that with the food truck
festival this year.
>> Oh, I see.
>> Yes.
>> So it's one event.
>> It Yes. It's uh instead of instead of
just Saturday night, however, it's
Friday through Sunday. The food trucks
come in um early afternoon, I believe,
on Friday. And um they do this in
Brigantine. And uh the the provider was
saying usually Friday night is people
come in for takeouts. And then Saturday
we have our concert. We'll have a band.
We're partnering with the provider um to
do the food trucks and they'll be there
all day. And then Sunday we'll also have
he'll supply a band and um and you know
you still have the food trucks. And then
what time does it get done on Sunday? I
think it's early, right, Donna? Six
o'clock. Yeah.
>> Six o'clock.
>> Yep. Yeah. All right.
>> So, it looks like a good event. We have
a good um rapport going with uh the
provider and I I think it's going to be
a good partnership so far. It seems that
way. Anyway,
>> I've known Blake and Mike Morgan for how
old's Kelsey? 30 years. Um good folks.
It's Mad Dog Morgan and the food truck.
That's what he started. Um they've been
at our events and they they've been
doing this pretty successfully over in
Brig for a few years now. So, good good
to have try something new. I like it.
>> Yep.
>> Great. Glad to hear it. Um so, uh
that'll that's a it's a big lineup.
Always is a summer great a great summer
lineup. Uh 0. Next is 073. This is um
awarding consulting contracting for
planning services related to the
re-examination of the master plan.
Lance, do you want to pick this up?
>> Yeah, sure. So, um, we're due to finish
our master plan or update our master
plan, uh, every 10 years, and it was
done last in 2017. So, or 20 end of 2026
into 17. So, we'll have to do that this
year. Uh, Jim Rutella has done the last
couple for the city. Does a fine job.
Um, he knows our city. Um, and we'll be,
you know, preparing this for for us with
the planning board. it is a more of a
planning board document that they will
then present to us for our acceptance as
the as the the um governing body. So,
it'll be a process. Uh there'll be
public meetings both at the planning
board and then they'll if there's if
there's significant enough changes, Jim
may host a uh kind of a a chet like a
public meeting over at the school or
something if if we need to. If not, the
meeting will just be held at city hall
um for people to come comment on it and
then once we get a draft going, we'll
certainly share that around and and and
move on. So, we'll have it adopted by
the end of 26
>> just since we're in the workshop talking
about it. I would I would support having
at least one sharet public comment at at
a larger venue that we can because not
not so much that there may be a lot of
changes, but there's been a lot of
changes in the city in general. Yeah.
just to have that kind of feedback and
engagement I think is positive.
>> Probably a good spot might be uh the um
public events building because you could
put easels up and and have people walk
around in stations. I've done these
before. So
>> what you try and do is have like
stations for people to comment on
certain things and you give them little
you give them a a big pen and and a big
easel board to comment on about what
they're proposing for a certain area.
So,
>> right,
>> it's a neat little way to get ideas and
and get feedback from from what's being
talked about. So,
>> yeah, visited cities that do that and
they have like they'll put a they'll put
a a display up in city hall and they'll
allow or any highly trafficked area and
allow people to make comments that makes
it easier for them because I think I
think you know people don't always know
where to comment or how to reach out for
these kinds of things. So,
>> agreed. Agreed.
>> All right. Any other comments on that?
Yeah, I um I just want to go back to um
I'm not really going back to 68, but um
reading the resolution on the holiday
parade, believe it or not, the planning
for that has started. And um the
committee and the police, I guess, too,
are going to need to know whether we're
going to have Troy Avenue um accessible
to us in December.
>> You'd have to ask the developer. I don't
know when they're going to start.
>> Okay.
>> I don't know. They last I heard it was
going to start demo in September.
>> Yeah. So I mean they they can't block
the street.
>> Yeah.
The street itself
>> street will be available.
>> Yeah. Yeah.
>> Likely not going to be all of it. It's
not going to be constructed at one time.
So they'll if there's any staging,
they'll be using their own property for
that, I would imagine. But it's worth
it's worth reaching out to them. I
>> I can reach out to the developer if we
want.
>> Okay. Thank you.
>> Yep.
>> All right.
All right. I'm looking forward to the
master plan um uh conversation. It's
always to me it's it's always something
that I think is our opportunity to to
put our our you know our thoughts
together and organize them for the
future.
Um next we'll have uh bills and payroll.
Uh we have one discussion item, the
revocable license at 22 North
Martinddale Avenue. Uh, do you want to
do that now or during the
>> Yeah, I'll just go through it now real
quick. So, it it's basically and Ed has
reviewed it and provided information on
on that it doesn't affect anything. It
was a planning board application for a
sec third floor addition, I believe. Um,
they were not providing any new parking.
Um, there was a a way to
remove part of the building and actually
stack two spaces in the in the driveway
and it was a few feet short of being 18
ft deep for a parking space. So, they
needed a few I think it was 3 feet
>> and it's still aligned with the the back
side of the sidewalk. So, the card will
not stick over the sidewalk, but it it
will be in our right of way. So, that's
all they needed. They have to apply to
us for that. um this is that process and
what'll happen is we'll be back at at
our next meeting in in um in February to
approve this. So I have no issues with
it. I think it's a we we asked for it at
the planning board. So
>> Right.
>> Yeah. As you mentioned, I do remember
and I do remember also that there was
it's consistent with the rest of the
homes on the block that kind of uh
>> uh the kind of relief that this gives
them.
>> So
>> yep, I'm I'm okay with it. Um, and I
don't think we need to have any more
discussion. Any other questions?
>> Ask um our solicitor prepare a
resolution for the next meeting and
we'll put it on for you guys to vote on.
>> Great.
>> Please prepare that. Thank you.
>> All right.
Um,
next item 15 is the public portion. At
this time, we welcome anyone in uh the
chambers or on the Zoom platform to
comment on anything uh in the live
streaming platform to uh comment on
anything that we've discussed so far in
the workshop. If you have any um any
comments on any of the specific items
that we've talked about so far, uh we
ask you to step up to the microphone or
raise your hand on the live stream
platform and um state your name,
address, and keep your comments to three
minutes if possible. So, anything on
we've discussed so far in the agenda.
Later on, there'll be a open forum for
any comments.
Seeing nobody rush the microphone in the
chambers. Is there anyone in the uh live
stream?
>> Is there anybody on Zoom who wishes to
comment or speak on any of the items
that have been spoken about so far?
Please raise your hand or within the
chat feature and you will be recognized.
Okay.
No. All right. Thank you. Hearing none.
Um
uh I have a motion to I don't think I
open public portion. Um so
no. So uh uh um so I guess I should vote
on opening public portion for for that
comment. Did I
>> It It's a workshop. So
>> it's just a workshop. So
>> it's not necessary.
>> I don't think so. Right. We're fine.
>> The I didn't open the
>> do a formal vote. formal vote to open
the public portion.
>> Yeah.
>> All right.
>> And that's why we do it. Okay. So, I'll
close the workshop meeting. Uh uh so at
this point, I will um ask for a vote to
close the entire workshop portion and
call to order the regular meeting. I'll
make that motion.
>> Second.
>> Commissioner Langra.
>> Yes.
>> Commissioner Mento.
>> Yes.
>> Mayor Creable.
>> Yes.
Uh may I have a
a motion to approve
minutes November 13th, 18th, uh regular
and 18th executive.
>> I'll make a motion to approve the
minutes.
>> Thank you. A second.
>> Second.
>> Roll call. Lisa. Commissioner Langra,
>> yes.
>> Commissioner Mento,
>> yes.
>> Mayor Creel,
>> yes. We have no ordinance introductions.
We have one uh I have a motion uh to
open public hearing for ordinance 00 uh
2026-002
amending pension for lifeguards.
>> I'll make that motion.
>> Second.
>> Roll call. Lisa.
>> Commissioner Langra.
>> Yes.
>> Commissioner Mento.
>> Yes. Mayor Creable.
>> Yes.
>> Any comments for public uh
any
comments from the public
here? Seeing none in the chambers and
any comments from the public on the
live stream platform.
Anybody in Zoom wish to make any
comments?
>> I have a motion to close public hearing
on ordinance 002.
>> So moved.
>> Second.
>> Roll call. Lisa.
>> Commissioner Langra.
>> Yes.
>> Commissioner Mento.
>> Yes.
>> Mayor Creable.
>> Yes. A motion to adopt ordinance
2026-002
as described.
>> I'll make a motion to adopt ordinance
2026-002.
>> Second.
>> Have a roll call. So,
>> Commissioner Langra,
>> yes.
>> Commissioner Mento,
>> yes.
>> Mayor Creable,
>> yes.
Uh, can I have motion to open for public
hearing uh ordinance 2026-003,
salaries compensation ranges for
officers and employees
as described?
>> I'll make that motion.
>> Second.
>> Commissioner Langra,
>> yes.
>> Commissioner Mento,
>> yes. Mayor Creable.
>> Yes. At this time, anybody have any
comments for um
ordinance 003?
Seeing none in the chambers, any on the
streaming platform.
>> Anybody on Zoom wish to comment on
ordinance 003?
>> No.
>> Hearing none. May I have a motion to
close public hearing on ordinance 003?
So moved.
>> Second.
>> Commissioner Langra.
>> Yes.
>> Commissioner Mento.
>> Yes.
>> Mayor Creable.
>> Yes.
>> I have a motion to adopt ordinance
2026-00003
establishing 2026 salaries and
compensations as described.
>> I'll make a motion to adopt ordinance
2026-003.
>> Thank you.
>> Second.
>> Roll call. Lisa.
>> Commissioner Langri.
>> Yes.
>> Commissioner Mento.
>> Yes.
>> Mayor Creable.
>> Yes.
Can I have a motion to open for public
hearing ordinance 00 220 2026-00004.
This is uh authorizing salaries and
wages for vendor city lifeguards as
described earlier.
>> So moved.
>> Second.
>> Commissioner Langraph.
>> Yes.
>> Commissioner Mento.
>> Yes.
>> Mayor Creable.
>> Yes.
I have a motion to adopt ordinance 2026.
>> Still public.
>> Oh, I'm sorry. Public hearing. Correct.
>> Anybody wants to comment on 004?
>> Anybody wants to comment on ordinance
004?
>> No.
>> Nope.
>> Hearing none. Can I have a motion to
close public comment on 2026-004?
>> So moved. Second. Commissioner Langria.
>> Yes.
>> Commissioner Mento.
>> Yes.
>> Mayor Creable.
>> Yes. Thank you.
>> Uh I have a motion to adopt ordinance
2026-004
uh salaries and wages for lifeguards as
described.
>> Make a motion to adopt ordinance
2026-004.
>> Second.
>> Thank you.
>> Commissioner Langrath.
>> Yes.
>> Commissioner Mento.
>> Yes. Mayor Creel.
>> Yes.
>> You can see I changed my mind on
abstaining from them.
>> I Yeah, I just noticed that.
>> Um,
so uh item 24 is motion to adopt
resolutions by consent. This is
resolutions 2026-056
through 2026-073
with one correction on
>> 65. 65
by motion to adopt
resolutions by consent as described with
one correction.
>> I'll make that motion as corrected.
>> Second.
>> Commissioner Langra.
>> Yes.
>> Commissioner Mento.
>> Yes.
>> Mayor Creel.
>> Yes. Right.
Um
we have uh approval of bills and
payrolls. So, we have uh payroll from
January 18, 2026 through January 31st,
2026 in the amount of 634,
$15.81.
And we have bills in the amount of
1,80,293.79.
>> Great. Okay. Thank you. May I have a
motion to approve bills and payroll,
please?
>> So moved.
>> Second.
>> Roll call. Lisa.
>> Commissioner Langra.
>> Yes. Commissioner Mento,
>> yes.
>> Mayor Creel,
>> yes. We have no announcements or safety
reports as far as I'm concerned, but we
do have commissioners that have
commissioner reports. Commissioner
Mento, you want to go first?
>> Sure. Um, it's pretty much business as
usual and finance and tax offices. Um we
we do have finances working on the
budget and um that should be coming
around in the next month or two um based
on when we're required to introduce and
adopt. Um
our special events uh coordinator Donna
is here tonight and she's been working
on
the uh events coming up um especially
during the season, the summer season. As
we talked about earlier, we are adding a
new event on the same weekend as a
current concert to tax the neighborhood
too much with a with a new date. Uh this
is at Ski Beach. It's a food truck
festival, Labor Day weekend, Friday,
Saturday, and Sunday. Um we're also
having a Philly's tailgate event on May
31st.
And um
is this in conjunction with the Vetner
social or is that a
Oh, VBA. Okay. Um, so that's May 31st.
Can And people can still get tickets,
Donna, or is it sold out?
>> May 31st.
>> Oh, that's the tailgate. I'm sorry. Yes.
Okay. Um, I was wondering why this ski
beach because it's the tailgate. It's
not the uh bus trip. Correct. Okay. Um,
we have sponsorships and partnerships
available for our concerts and other
events and uh that was pretty successful
last year and you can contact Donna if
you want more information about that and
how to get your your name out there and
your business out there. And um other
than that, we're finalizing plans for um
many of these events.
>> Okay. Thank you. Um, I'm going to do um
a couple of quick things before I kick
it over to you, Lance.
>> Sure.
>> Um, and then I'll maybe follow up. Uh,
just want to give, uh, some brief stats
on the fire department and, uh, the
police department. The police department
is, you know, is is, uh, uh, typically
busy. Um, just in the month we had 1,199
entries. um the largest of which would
be um parking summones. That's before we
suspended any real parking enforcement
during the snow and um ice event that we
had. And that's what I would just want
to mention briefly. The fire department
not only has uh in um uh their normal
calls, which tend to be um uh in the two
to 300 calls per month, uh an additional
28 to 30 calls per day since the storm
event happened. This is some of the
largest um uh call volume that we've had
uh in in a long time. the and the event
itself in 50 years. Um, so not only did
we have um and these are in at one
particular day the the the crews uh left
for their first calls at 7 a.m. and did
not return to the um firehouse until um
until just after dinner. So they were
constantly out all day going from one
call to the next. They had to re had to
uh had to group the calls for frozen
pipes. That's what this is for, by
street so that they could um not to save
time by not going around the city. Uh if
you think about it, 30 calls in one day.
They have to stay there sometimes for an
hour at a time um to make sure that it's
there's shut offs. Uh there's a that
some uh particular development had um
close to 11 units uh where water had to
be removed. Um and in the process uh we
had um both our uh our our pump truck
and our Quint have um during while
they're waiting um while they're working
um the drain lines froze and um and have
to be repaired. So the because of the
windchill. So um and that was every city
not just ours. Uh the the manufacturers
um literally had to change the same part
on Margate Brigantine um for for all the
use and the the extreme windchill that
uh that that our our um our firefighters
were up against. Um so it's been a busy
I know public works as well. I'll kick
that over to you Lance with that.
>> Okay. And I'll start with with a similar
report from DPW
um storm activity summary. Rick Santor
was was gracious enough to give me a
breakdown of that. From 1326 through
21126. So as of yesterday we used road
salt. 84 tons of that were utilized. Uh
luckily we were able to get a second
delivery kind of right before the second
um wave of that that storm hit. So we're
pretty good with that. Uh just so folks
understand, road salt only goes down on
basically the the main roadways, our
main corridors, the emergency access
roads, Vetner, Atlantic, Winchester,
Monmouth, Dorset, and Wellington. Um
that's all we have the ability to store
in in public works. Um we learned a lot
from this storm. I I'll get to that at
the end. We learned a lot of what we can
and can't do. Um certainly we always
wish to do better and hope to do better.
Our guys did what they could with the
tools and equipment that we have and
with the manpower we have um pre-storm
and actually before the the last little
um storm that didn't come. Thankfully
last Sunday we didn't get the rain the
snow we're supposed to get. We were
pretty happy about that. We used 1500
gallons of brine and those are applied
mainly to the main corridors. Again we
don't do the side streets with that. Uh
we also do Margate and Longport uh
because that's part of the county
system, the county grant that we
obtained to uh to get that vehicle and
that equipment. So we do those streets
as well. Um sidewalk ice melt, 6,000 lbs
was used uh on sidewalk ice melt. That's
public buildings uh around the
firehouses, driveway ramps, all of that.
Um now we get into what was broken. um
35 water meters broken and replaced with
new um overtime hours from 124 to 211,
515 hours. These guys are working just
like the fire department, Tim, you know,
they're they're working a bunch of hours
without a lot of rest. These guys are
exhausted. They still are. Um because
we're still getting water mane and
waterline breaks. Um we had call man
offhour emergency responses 47 during
that ter time period. Um we had resident
assists. This is where we had 67
resident assists where we have a car um
that is stuck. That person either needs
to get out for emergency reasons,
dialysis, patient, medically
compromised, home health care worker,
can't access access property, you know,
things of that nature. Um, we had 67 of
those where we actually sent out guys
with either a loader, a Bobcat, or
whatever we had to get out and try and
get these folks out where they needed to
get uh for emergency purposes. Um, we
had some uh equipment damaged. I don't
want to get into that list, but uh
suffice to say some of our our plows
took some damage when the when the ice
actually froze the snow up after the
rain. So, that was problematic.
Um, had some facility issues. library
roof leaked with the cold temperatures.
The down spouts all froze up. Water
ponded on the roof and couldn't get out.
So, we had some issues there. Uh we're
working on we have that patched now and
um we've we've got that thawed.
Hopefully, the temperatures stay in in
more moderate temps. Um we had DPW. We
had we had the water down at DPW for 96
hours. So, we had no restroom facilities
in the main building. We did have
restroom facilities for the guys and and
folks over there in the in the garage
building. Um they did storm storm drain
cleanouts. Um we moved 88 dump trucks
full of snow over to either Ski Beach or
um Titus Field or the old driving range.
Just moving material and snow out of the
way. Um couple injuries, slip and falls.
Nobody too badly hurt. They didn't miss
any hours, so that's good. Um, so that's
kind of it. I I just want to say I know
there's a lot of folks out there that
were complaining
um about the side streets and how icy
they were. This storm was
extremely irregular for our area. We got
six, seven inches of snow midafter
afternoon on I think it was Sunday that
turned to rain and then the temperatures
just plummeted. It froze everything
solid. We are just not equipped for a
storm like that with our small city. Um,
our big trucks can't get down the side
streets to plow them clean u due to the
cars. You know, we've had, you know, a
lot of residents reached out and and you
know, you plowed me in. Well, there's no
place to put the snow, folks. We just
don't have an option for that. There's
just no way to to push the snow anywhere
else. We try and push it straight down
the street and get it out to the end and
then move it from the intersections. Um,
again, we don't salt the side streets.
Even if we did salt these side streets,
once the temperature is I believe it's
22 or 20 20° is below that temperature,
road salt doesn't work. It's made to
work above 22 or 25°. So, putting down
that road salt would have been just
dumping money into the bay. So until it
started to thaw and then we did hit the
intersections again. Uh one of the
things we're looking at for next year is
possibly a salt silo somewhere else on
the island that maybe we can do a shared
services with Margate. They had the same
issues. Um Atlantic City has a very
large salt silo. If you've seen it out
on the Blackhorse Pike, um they can
hold, I believe, 150 to 200 tons in
there. We can hold 50. So, we're trying
to look at that so we can do some more
work around the city uh with that
product. Um and and hopefully we don't
get that cold snap again. That's just
it's just brutal. Um that's kind of all
I have on the storm. I want to thank the
guys that been out there and are still
out there. you know, these waterline
breaks, they're even if they're behind
the curb, our guys are out there
shutting off the water with the fire
department. Um, and and trying to save
property and not more damage to these
residential properties throughout the
city. Um,
>> yeah, one of the things, just to
interrupt real briefly, one of the
things that the the fire department
started doing was to use Google Maps to
find the street shut offs when they
needed to because obviously they're
covered with snow and ice. So they're
using Google Maps to look at summertime
images to find where those shut offs
are.
>> Yeah.
>> Chip out the ice. So it's been a
>> it's been a bit of a it's it's nothing
really like this if you see things like
the ice on the pilings at the pier and
and the amount of and just the news in
general. This was not a normal event. So
appreciate what your department did as
well.
>> Yeah. Just just to follow up on on a lot
of folks complaining about sidewalks not
being cleared.
Look, yes, we do have an ordinance that
requires within a certain amount of
hours after a certain inch of snowfall,
you're required to clear your sidewalks.
We're not going to fine half of our
residents for not doing that under this
storm. It's just not possible. Yes, we
asked you to do it. We would like you to
have it done. We did send letters to
some of the commercial properties that
say, "Look, next time you got to get out
there and clean it because folks need to
get through these commercial areas to
get to your store and other properties,
other stores." So, no fines were issued.
Um, yes, there is the ability to do
that. We would have been writing tickets
and fines for the next 6 months to folks
just to go out and and find all these
properties uh and and write those those
violations. It's just not something one
that we we thought was an effort that
worth our time. Yes, it would have been
great to have these sidewalks clear and
we will try and work with people in the
future about getting that out to them.
You know, if you're a summer resident,
you're going to have to have your
landscaper or somebody a property
manager handle that. But during when
this iced up, it just wasn't going out
and shoveling it. It's, you know, I
helped a a friend out when he couldn't
get his person there. And it took me a
good hour to hour and a half to do 30 ft
just to go out and chip it away. So, it
wasn't an easy thing to do before it
froze. Luckily, a lot of people in our
street, Tim, we were out there early and
got it done before it froze, but uh boy,
that that was just it's difficult. So, I
don't want to beat a dead horse, but we
we tried to do as best we could. I I
appreciate the effort my guys had. Um we
did have some residents
um step up and buy them pizzas one day,
so that was kind of nice. Um they
they've had some other folks offer
things as well. So it's been nice to to
help them out a little bit because
they're tired. They've been working more
than their normal shifts. Uh lots of
overtime as you saw with the the you
know over 500 hours. Um guys are worn
out. So hopefully we get a break. Um
they're out there this week clearing
drains again. So
that's all I have on the storm. Um, did
you have you wanted to follow up on
that, Tim? Or
>> No, no. I I did that while I while you
were talking.
>> You did? Okay. Gotcha.
>> Yep. Thank you.
>> Um, update on the boardwalk if you've
been up there. We have decking.
>> We have decking for about almost a full
block now. They've did those two
pavilions there just north of the pier.
And I didn't see that they connected to
the old boardwalk, but they're getting
close. I was up there yesterday, I
think, and they were maybe about 30 feet
from from connecting um to the the old
boardwalk there. So, um you will notice
that it does not have the um herring
bone pattern or the angled pattern. Uh
we talked about that early on when we
bid this project out that it was just
not something that we thought was was
worth the significant increase in
dollars. Um it was it was quite a bit of
of I'm trying to get back on the Zoom. I
had pulled something else up. I can't
get back to the zoom.
>> I remember we talked about those
dollars. I remember the number if you if
you
>> It was It was over a million dollars
that we've saved by going to in labor
and materials and going to just putting
straight boards back on the on the
boardwalk. There there's actually a good
article the the um Inquirer reached out,
>> right?
>> And I put him in touch with Ed Stinson,
who's the engineer managing that that
project for us. Um and he there's a
pretty good article. I think we put a
link in the in the upcoming or the most
recent newsletter that talks about it a
lot. Um the process, you know, it's a
total reconstruction. Um so it it's a
project. The boardwalk will be open for
this summer. What they can finish till
May 31st, they will finish and have
reopened at that point. Uh they will
restart again in September of of 26. So
next September we'll be starting back up
again. Um, and then we can just move on
through all next winter to finish the
whole that whole section from the pier
up to Atlantic City. So, that's an
update on on the boardwalk. Let me add
anything.
>> Just just a just a one other comment.
Sorry. Is that good the savings of of
just over a million dollars is the
equivalent of a full city block of
boardwalk.
>> Yeah.
>> So, there's a it's a it's a val it's a
there's a it's a huge value for
something that is, you know, as iconic
as the boardwalk.
>> Yeah. I I don't know that exact number,
but I'm saying it there was we saved a
million dollars and that's you know the
the labor the the to cut this material
it's dense. It's Camaroo, right?
>> Uh it's very similar to EPE. Um it is
very dense. It burns through drill bits.
It burns through saw blades. So to cut
it, the manpower to do it, the time and
the the material you're wasting. Every
time you put a piece down, you got to
cut it. You're you're cutting a piece
off of that that piece of lumber and
just goes in the trash. So, um, this way
we ordered it where it's very limited
cutting and they're laying it down and
and and you know, putting it right in
place and screwing it down. So, it's
moving it's moving along much quicker.
The weather did slow it uh slow it down,
especially the pile driving uh cuz they
jet those piles in most of the way and
then driving the last few feet. Uh, so
the weather was problematic when it was,
you know, singledigit temperatures out
there and the water's freezing up that
you're trying to jet with. So that
slowed them down, but they're they're
moving forward. They're moving moving
well. We had a good contractor on the
job.
>> Um, if no one has anything else, I I
wanted to and we've we've been following
along on some comments on social media
regarding the redevelopment plan for the
old Ventner professional campus and the
Ventner school process. Um, just want to
speak tonight to clarify the record
regarding redevelopment of the
professional campus and to address
persistent misinformation that's been
circulating on social media.
Um we did invite um the former mayor
who's kind of taken on his charge to
come tonight. He wasn't able to get here
tonight. We're we hope we could have an
open dialogue and clear up these issues
that he's asking questions. Okay. Well,
come to our meeting and ask him because
we're not on that page all the time. We
get told by people that stuff's on
there. It's not our page. So, we would
ask you to come to us with questions
instead of putting things out there that
are not accurate. So just to go through
the process and this is what the city
did to to get this process done, the
redevelopment of that site done. The
site plan is the law of the land. So
that's what sets what the requirements
are. While much has been made of the the
broad feasibility language in the
redevelopment report, we must
distinguish between a planning vision
and a binding site plan approval. On
November 18th of the last year, it's
2025. The planning board approved a
specific plan that mandates the old
school building remain commercial.
To be clear, any deviation from that,
specifically any attempt to convert the
historic structure into residential
units, would constitute a substantial
change. By law, that would trigger a new
application, a new public hearing, new
public notices to everyone within 200
feet. The developer cannot just
unilaterally pivot
to a residential use based on market
conditions or without returning to this
room. I'm not in that room. I apologize.
Um uh and facing public review and
scrutiny of that project of that change.
Um it was specifically talked about at
the planning board. Tim, you were there.
Um Mayor Chryser was there. Um so I
don't know where he's getting that
information that you can just
unilaterally change that use of that
building. So tonight, it's just we're
trying to correct the narrative. If you
have questions on stuff that's happening
in the city, reach out to us. We'll get
back to you. Trust me. When people
didn't like the ice on the streets, they
called they called Tim, they called me.
I'm pretty sure they called Maria. Call
us. We'll respond to you. I'm we're
we're very accessible. Um it it's deeply
disappointing to hear that a former city
official, someone who should be
intimately,
you know, understanding or intimately
aware of the the New Jersey municipal
land use law continuing to spread
misinformation
to suggest that this city has left the
door open for a quiet res that's a quote
to to quiet residential conversion
ignores the legal reality of the site
plan process. spreading these
inaccuracies is a disservice to the
public and undermines the hard work of
our planning professionals. Um the
planning board took a lot of time
getting this done. We did a
redevelopment plan first. Then the
developer came in with a plan based on
that redevelopment plan that met all of
the criteria. They needed no variances
to produce the product that they that
they were designed through that site
plan process. Um, and to be clear, the
underlying zoning that we didn't create,
that was created many years ago,
allowed a higher density on that
property. When they came to us
initially, they wanted to develop the
entire site with an eye to keeping the
front building. And that's where we
focused. When we came into that
redevelopment plan, that's why we
created the plan to help save that front
building. Um, and that's what we believe
we've done with this site plan approval.
Um, something that you you try to do
like we're hopefully learning from the
re the previous storm on how to treat
things better when when we get onto our
those those icy streets. Um, we must
also remember, you know, the failures or
or mistakes in the past administrations.
We must also remember the cost of of
administrative shortcuts. The decision
by the previous administration to remove
the ice rink at the library site without
NJ Greenacres approval was a
catastrophic error.
By failing to follow the statemandated
diversion process, that administration
effectively penalized every taxpayer in
the city of Ventner. This violation has
severely hampered our ability to secure
green acres funding for new parks and
recreation. We're as we are still
working to rectify this loss that the
recreational space in the of that
recreational space in the eyes of the
state. They are withholding at this
moment $300,000 from the city of Etner
because they tore down an ice rink that
was built with Greenacres funds many
many years ago. They tore it down in
2004. I think that was the date and
built the library. Look, library is
great. All that follow the right
procedures.
We cannot get grant funding from the
green acres folks until we resolve this
issue. Now, we've been working hard on
it since the since day one in our
administration. That's we're 10 years in
now. We're still working on it and I
think mayor hopefully we have something
soon coming up on that. We've had some
really good conversations with Green
Acres folks and the D and we're we're
close. But it's it's very frustrating to
have that run that way. Um conclusion,
you know, I I I have some pretty
detailed notes here. We cannot afford to
repeat the lack of transparency or the
act now, ask for permission later style
of government. It's not how we've been
operating for 10 years. That loss of of
us are that lost us our ice rink and our
grant eligibility. We have a solid
commercial only approval for a former
school building. We expect the city to
hold developers to the letter of the of
the law and that site plan. and we
expect our former leaders to speak
truthfully about the processes they once
oversaw. Um it's frustrating that this
continues to happen. We've had
conversations with him in the past and
he continues to put out information that
is just not accurate. Again, I ask folks
if you have a question about something
either come to a meeting in person,
Zoom, if you want to meet individually,
the three of us are available to do
that. That's our role. That's what we
signed up for. So, I I'll stop there.
I've been talking for quite a while and
I need a drink of water.
>> Thank you.
>> Thanks, Lance. I I am gonna um Did you
want to
>> I'd like to just add a couple of
comments about the storm if I may.
>> Yeah.
>> The um I want to echo what what you've
all said about the effort that the
public safety departments and the public
works departments put in. Uh, but I I
don't want to forget the administrative
staff because the the office over at
public works was swamped with phone
calls. Uh, not always the nicest
demeanor on the other end and they put
up with a lot of abuse. And that happens
in this building as well that people
call and they think that it's okay to
scream and yell at people and to use the
fbomb and, you know, and just to be
really disrespectful to people that are
trying to serve them. So, I want to add
a a caveat to the comment about
everybody's going to get a call back. If
they leave a voice message for me that
is dropping the fbomb and calling people
idiots and that kind of stuff, they're
likely not going to get a call back and
they're going to be glad that they
didn't.
>> Thanks, Don. You're right. There was
there was a lot of frustration.
>> Yeah.
>> On residents parts and they did take it
out on whoever picked up the phone.
Yeah,
>> we did get a lot of that and I got phone
calls and
>> and most of the folks I spoke with were
not abusive, but I did get calls from
some of my staff that said that they
were they got an earful. So, and that if
I got a chance to talk to that person, I
certainly asked them just what you did,
Tom. Don't treat folks that way. There's
no reason to do that.
>> And you know, we talking about
misinformation. And the storm was also a
uh a lot of misinformation or I I don't
know where people get their information.
Do they just make it up? They must I
mean what did you say earlier? 84 tons
of salt,
>> right?
>> The city has no salt. The city has no
budget for salt. Where's this
information? Where's this coming from?
The keyboard warriors
just making stuff up. They should be
ashamed of themselves as hard as our our
crews were out there working. And as Tom
said, in the offices, they're they
didn't get any sleep. They're in the
cold. And the people are out there in
their nice, warm homes bitching and
complaining. Like you say, it's the
vocal minority, but it's still
upsetting. It's bad info. It's negative
info. It's a disgrace to our employees.
>> What what happened there, Maria, is that
people twisted the information. Lance
pointed out, I think very clearly that
we don't have the capacity to store
enough salt to to salt all the side
streets and to salt the whole town. So
the focus is on public safety and
emergency access for the main thorough
affairs. And when people were told that
we don't have salt to do the side
streets, that's what it morphed into is
you idiots don't have salt.
>> Listen better.
>> You didn't put money in budget.
>> Yeah.
>> Who's the jerk that did that?
>> Right. And then the same day I'm reading
this or hearing about this, we're
getting salt delivered. 50 tons.
>> Yeah.
>> Right.
>> Yeah. We got 50. Right. Right. As that
that's that's as much as we can store.
We had the salt to do the roads that we
do. Like I said, even if we had salted
the side streets, it was too cold for it
to work.
It and and we don't use the stuff you
use on your sidewalk. I asked this
question. I learned this is something I
learned during the storm. I said because
Rick called me. He said, ' Lance, this
this road salt doesn't work. I said,
'Well, can we get bags of this other
stuff? Because I the stuff I throw down,
but it's calcium manganesees or whatever
the heck it is. It was working all the
whole time on my sidewalk. You don't use
that on roads. One, the D doesn't allow
you to do it because you don't want that
as the amount you have to put down on
the streets. It damages the streets. It
also goes into the bay down here, so
into your storm drains and into the bay.
Granted, residents are using it. They
don't have the same restrictions as a
municipality does,
>> you know. And I said to myself, what's
everybody talking about? I went through
Margate, Longport, Summers Point,
Northfield, Lynwood, drove all through
those towns. Every town was the same
with their side streets. Granite, some
side streets in each town were better
than other side streets in each town.
Longport Beach block looked like it
never snowed, but everything else it
don't have cars on the street.
>> Everything was the same.
of of the town beach communities. We
have more year-round residents,
>> right?
>> And that means there's cars on the
street.
>> We are all in the same boat,
>> right? But as Lance said, we we're
unique in that we have a lot of narrower
streets than those cities and we have
more cars on the street that you really
don't want those uh those plows damaging
cars and and the I and and and the plows
weren't as Lance said, the plows weren't
effective against the ice. Yeah, you
can't. The only thing that's effective
and I learned something else. I said,
"Why can't we get a loader down here and
just, you know, run down the street?"
Well, loaders and the backhoe, not the
backhoe, the um bobcat, they call it the
JCB. It's a little bobcat thing that
runs around.
>> So, they don't have floats
on the front of the on the bucket. A
plow has a float on it and that's in
that's important because what that does
it allows it to go over manholes or
imperfections in the street, curbs,
things like that. When it hits
something, it pops up. That doesn't
happen with a loader or the little
Bobcat. It rips the manhole out of the
ground. It rips a a water valve out of
the ground, damages the piece of
equipment, and can injure the driver. I
had a friend in Brigantine years ago
that hit a manhole during a flood with a
with a loader, a D90 940 loader. He was
in the hospital for a month for internal
injuries. So, you can't use certain
equipment. Again, something I learned to
do what would have been nice to use.
>> Yeah. But the and I I just want to
reiterate that this was not a normal
storm there. You know, the the bay is
frozen over, which does hasn't happened
in a long time. The the the Delaware Bay
you is frozen over. You can't get you
can't get the uh ferry t the ferry tick
to to Delaware is running slow. The the
you know this is this was this with the
windchills was uh like you know I've
never heard of us uh of our of our
apparatus having having um fro h within
a call ha having pipes freezing within
the apparatus you know with an hour on
the road.
>> So it was a unique experience.
>> I don't ever remember temperatures this
low. Philadelphia, those those kinds of
Yeah.
>> When's the last time snow stuck around
for two weeks?
>> Right. Right. So, so hopefully we're at
a balmy 40 degrees now.
>> Um we'll be
>> It's like spring.
Um I apologize, but I
am going to circle back to the the Troy
Avenue thing because it is very unique
and I did want to just um support the
things that you said about it. Um this
is one of the largest developments that
the city has seen. We know, Lance, when
you and I and Maria um we all uh ran in
a town that was a drive-thru town. The
town by the time you got to I remember
counting the closed businesses. By the
time you got to Troy Avenue, I stopped
counting at a hundred of closed off
closed businesses. So, this right
revitalization is something that um did
not happen overnight. It did not happen
without all of the public um uh notices
and the dialogue that took place, but I
do understand how the public can feel
sometimes that that when things do
finally surface in the news or on social
media, it feels as though it may be some
surprise and then but there there really
it really is not a surprise. This went
through
uh since 2023
numerous three years of redevelopment
meetings and reiterations of the design.
The design came to us as a very um sort
of like a very uh utilitarian design. Um
we uh we we we reduced the density. Um
we reduced the we we create we created
something that is more of a has more
curb appeal. And I and even though
there's going to be people that don't
believe this, it's gonna in my
professional opinion and as a designer
and someone that's worked in
architectural design in over 25 years,
the streets the streetcape
of this property is going to feel less
dense than the surrounding areas. And I
also feel that the back that the that
the the parking conditions, which were
one of the biggest problems,
is that this area is going to have its
own self-sustaining parking. I I know
people are going to have a hard time
believing this, but if you were to take
this development and put it anywhere
else in the city in a similarlyssized
plot of land, this park, this area will
have more off- streetet parking than any
of those other developments. So, while I
realize that people may feel like
something's being taken away, um the the
parking will not necessarily be worse in
this area. And there's a lot of other
misinformation that came I think that
fed into some of the things that you
mentioned that you know the site plan is
the rule of the the rule of the land
that and that the main benefit is that
we are that is contingent on keeping
that front Troy Avenue school and
adaptively reusing into other
opportunities like restaurants um and
the shops that are already being more
utilized in a in a denser space there.
um this is going to be an anchor for
that side of town when it's when it's
fully utilized. Um but there's a lot of
other things that I think people start
to um start to grind their teeth about.
You know, why didn't they turn it why
wasn't it turned into a public park?
Well, it's public. It's private
property. That ship sailed in
>> ' 87
>> 87 1987. The city doesn't have those
kinds of We can't jump in and say,
"Let's build a parking lot." It's not
private. It's private property. It's not
It's not public property. Um, and some
of the other concerns, uh, will these be
short-term rentals? No, that was part of
the permanent deed restriction in this
development that these will not be and
it's illegally binding, um, that they
will not be short-term rentals. Um, you
know, these are the the the the
um what are tax abatements and how do
they work? You know, why are they
getting is it a giveaway? A tax
abatement is in this kind of scale is
not a giveaway. It's a tool that's used
throughout municipal development that
turns vacant and underutilized
properties into a productive asset. This
has been a empty parking lot for 40
years. This is now going to generate
predictable revenue. It's going to it's
going to uh grow uh tax values around it
and it's going to create better
infrastructure around. This is going to
be the only block in the city that's
going to have hidden utility lines.
That's part of what I think the curb
appeal is going to be. you're not going
to see those utility lines in this this
area. Um and the the and the front
school will not be um will will not be
torn down. Um so I I just think it's
important that actual accurate
information specifically the use of the
front building is is um is conveyed to
the to the general public. Um it's the
dialogue should be um is healthy but it
should be based on on facts and uh I I
encourage everybody to come to the
planning board meetings and come to our
meetings um when these things come up on
the agendas. I know it's not always
convenient but you can zoom from the
privacy of your warm home. Um the um uh
and then as we said on the agenda
earlier there is a master plan. That's
another really great example for people
that are interested in these things um
to come out and voice their opinion and
get engaged about what the future holds
for the and and I I I know that we all
feel this way but I think it bears
repeating that there's um the goal our
goals are to make sure that it's always
a net win for Ventner developers um are
take on their own risk but um along with
the master plan and the and the
decisions we make every day having uh
moving the city forward is our main goal
for everybody. So,
>> agree.
>> Well, well said, mayor.
>> Thank you.
>> I think we're fortunate to have you two
on the planning board because this is
really your profession also. So, you
know what you're doing. You know what
you're looking at. You know what you're
talking about. I wouldn't know what I
was looking at. I mean, I know we all
sat with the developer and we all looked
at, you know, the first look at what
these were going to look like and we
were all like, "No, you have to change
this. We didn't like it." That was about
>> If you remember, the first design had
the house's face in Troy and New Haven,
>> right?
>> Yeah. And and they they just didn't have
any bells and whistles on them. I I I
really think this was a really good
cooperation between what the city what
what they what they envision and what we
think fits the city. They've got um the
the setbacks that were given, the
balconies, the bringing in brick from
the from the from the building itself, I
think is going to be attractive. Um and
um and and some of the things that we
want to do in in a town, the things that
we like like our our restaurants and our
shops, you need population for that.
>> Yeah. And you know, we're, you know,
we're this is a positive. It's a net
positive.
>> So,
>> great.
>> Thank you.
>> Long. Any other Commissioner comments?
>> No, that was that was the longest we've
gone, I think.
>> Yeah. I apologize,
>> Commissioner Vince.
>> Yeah, that might have been a little bit
about that, too.
>> Frustrating when you see bad information
going out.
>> Yep. I won't
>> and nobody's asked. No.
No.
>> All right. So, um, hearing no more, uh,
commissioner reports or comments. Is
that okay? Can I move on to the the, uh,
third? Yep.
>> Final here. Uh, item 29 is public
comments.
>> One last thing. I apologize. Um, lead
line lead service line replacement
seminar.
>> Public meeting is going to be next
Saturday,
>> um, February 21st at 10:00 a.m. at the
Ventner School VC auditorium. Um, no
charge to come obviously. So, it's just
come on out. The folks that we have
helping us provide information to the
public both online will be there to help
us explain some of the processes.
There's a link on our website. There's a
link in the newsletter to some more
information on that. Uh we will be
ramping this pro project up uh probably
this spring. You'll start seeing some
work being done. We're going to start in
the Heights um to replace the lead
service lines in the city. Our mains are
are fine. It's the lines that go from
the main to your home that that have
potential of lead or galvanized pipe in
it. I will reiterate this and I said
this the first time we we were told by
the state we have to do this. The lead
in our in in water lines throughout the
state. The the threshold is 15 parts per
billion. We've never crossed two parts
per billion uh in in Ventner city. You
know, no no lead in your system is is
good at all. But we're way below a
threshold. Um, but we're still required
to do the the project. Uh, we are first
or second in line to get funding for
this from the state, the IBank as well
as the state granting us, you know, the
at least the first two phases of this up
to $20 million. Um, this is a 65 to $70
million project over the and we have to
have it done from what they were telling
us a couple years ago by the early
2030s. I don't think that's happening,
but that's what we're trying to do.
We'll get more information on the 21st
at 10 a.m. I will be there. I'm not I
know Maria, I think you're out of town.
Um, and Tim, I don't know if you're able
to make it or not, but I will be there.
So, hope to see everybody come out.
>> Great.
>> Thank you. Yep. Thanks for reminding me
of that as well. It's important. Um, at
this point I'd like a motion to open the
meeting to public comment for anything
ventner related.
>> So moved.
>> Second.
>> Roll call. Lisa.
>> Commissioner Langrav.
>> Yes.
>> Commissioner Mento.
>> Yes.
>> Mayor Kville.
>> Yes. So at this point anyone uh who
would like to participate in um in the
the workshop the regular session here
can speak about anything uh related to
ventner in any way shape or form.
Uh anyone in the
just ask you to come up to the
microphone
seeing my favorite bike shop owner Mike
Wheezen. State your name and address
please.
I can't hear him on Zoom.
>> Oh. Uh, uh, can you hit that but that
button there, please?
>> Sorry. Sorry. I should know that.
>> Repeat again. Mike Ween, 326 North
Dorset Avenue, Venner. um the effort you
guys put in because I haven't come to a
commission meeting in a long time since
the Kelly administration because of the
bickering at that time between the
commissioners. I love seeing you guys
work together. Um as far as our former
mayor Tim,
he's a good man. He he dedicated himself
to the city for a long long time.
his misinformation
in his mind I believe may he may think
is true. A good sitdown may clarify all
that. Um
I believe anybody that volunteers for
the city should never expect anything in
return when they're done doing their
volunteering or serving in office.
Most people that volunteer or run for
commission are doing it for the love of
Ventner. Everyone on the planning board
I feel does that. Not looking for a
patting a pat on the back or anything.
Lance, you presented all the facts. And
I'm really glad that maybe Tim wasn't
here for the facts to be presented.
Maybe he'll read this or listen to it
and think about what he's putting out
there. But I think a good sit down
to eye to eye will iron out a lot of
things and make the city what I think it
is a great great city diversified and a
great place to live. And I felt that
ever since I moved here. Um my mother
moved here in when I was in high school.
So, let's keep Ventner going the way
it's been for the last few years and
we're going to be great. We're already
great. We're going to be greater.
>> Thank you.
>> Thanks, Mike. I did reach out to um
former Mayor Chryser and uh gave him a
couple dates next week for us to sit
down. So, hopefully we'll get a chance
to
>> Yeah.
Um, anybody in the
uh Zoom platform that would like to
speak about anything vent related?
>> Anybody on Zoom? Oh, got Nicole Jacobe.
>> Nicole Jacobe.
>> Hi everyone. Um, my video is not working
for some reason. Nicole here. Uh, local
mother and business owner. Um, 5609
Edgewater Avenue.
Uh, I'll keep this brief. I came on in
2023 and 2024 regarding this issue. I
skipped last year because there was so
much construction on our street. But my
concern is
um I have young children. Uh there's a
lot of children in this area. We have
multiple disabled adults who use walking
andor chair devices. And the speeding on
Edgewater A is insane. And that's
because it's five blocks of what they
feel is a a freeway with zero stop
signs. So back in 24 when I came on for
the second or third time, we discussed
putting a radar speed sign up. I
understand, you know, we dis you guys,
you know, educated me on, you know, we
can't put speed bumps for this reason.
We can't put a stop sign for this
reason. Um, so what we discussed was
putting a a radar speed sign off, you
know, which didn't happen. And then like
I said last year there was so much
construction over here between the cans
and the work vehicles you can't even
drive. Not to mention speed, right? But
now that all of that is done and I think
we need to revisit this because again
it's it's an issue that's dragging on
for years now and we need it.
>> Well, um much appreciated. I know there
were four houses under construction last
summer on Edgewater and they all had uh
cans out front and multiple trucks was
also the problem. They also have a huge
construction vehicles that made it
difficult to um navigate that street. I
um we do have a number of uh um uh radar
signs.
>> We can we can we can install one there
for the I would I would M Jacobe I would
imagine summertime is the worst or do
you
>> Yeah, I'm just trying to get a jump on
it because I know stuff doesn't happen
overnight and you know I didn't want to
you know go another summer. I have
another young child now um since this
started. So um you know we discussed
putting it I guess on um Somerset or
SuffK or whatever's in the street in the
middle which is kind of at the middle
point. Um so or Somerset that's what it
was. So if we can you know possibly work
on that as we approach you know um
Memorial Day weekend that would be
great.
>> I think there's also an issue with
people making right turns and going the
wrong way. was another thing we talked
about putting one-way signs as well.
That's also an issue. Although because
they're turning from a stop sign,
hopefully they're stopping, but yes,
driving the wrong way. And like I said,
this year without the cans, they're
going to be back at it. I had a break
last year with the construction. Um
Okay.
>> So, yeah, the one way is an issue, too.
>> We can definitely do the one-way signs
and then we'll maybe Tim, we can send PD
rep out with with Rick to find a
location for the the radar sign. Yeah, I
we usually do that right away, so I'm
surprised it did it missed. I apologize
for that.
>> Yeah, no problem. I just want to stay
ahead of it, please. Thank you.
>> Yep.
>> You're welcome. Thank you.
>> Anybody else on the Zoom platform or
um
>> anybody else on Zoom wish to make any
comments?
>> No.
>> Hearing none. Uh, may I have a motion to
close public comment?
>> So moved.
>> Second.
>> I have roll call, Lisa.
>> Commissioner Langra,
>> yes.
>> Commissioner Mento,
>> yes.
>> Mayor Kville,
>> yes. Uh, do we have uh executive
session?
>> No.
>> Um, I know we had talked about going
into it about potential litigation. Do
we want to push that to the 26th?
>> Uh, Tom is mentioning yes.
>> Okay.
Yeah, Lance, I I haven't had a chance
yet to speak with with Katherine, our
solicitor. I'm not sure that what we're
going to discuss really needs to be
executive session. Maybe it does, but
I'm not sure.
>> All right.
So,
>> we can we can put it to the 26th. And
I'd rather be there in person for that.
I I truly appreciate you guys letting me
do it from remote. Yeah, a nice
leisurely drive up here today in
daylight, which is the first time that
that's happened in probably 20 years of
driving to Vermont.
>> So, well, the connection's much better.
It's very good. So, we It was a easy
meeting, but we'll do that. We'll do
that in next executive session when
we're all present.
>> Um, with no other comments for the good
of the order, I can uh ask for a motion
for adjournment.
>> So, moved.
>> Second.
>> Roll call. Lisa,
>> Commissioner Langra,
>> yes. Commissioner Mento. Yes. Mayor
>> Creable.
>> Yes. Meeting adjourned.