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COUNCIL PRESIDENT SAUICKIE – Please remain standing keep in mind our first responders, first aid here in Jackson including our Fire, Police, and of our Military here and abroad, which allows a meeting like this tonight.
ROLL CALL:
ATTORNEY MCGUCKIN TOWNSHIP CLERK KISTY
As Clerk of this meeting, I publicly announce that in compliance with the provisions of the “Open Public Meetings Act” adequate notice of this meeting of the Jackson Township Council has been advertised in the manner prescribed by law.
COUNCILMAN BRESSI – Waived comments.
COUNCILMAN CHISHOLM— Waived comments.
COUNCILMAN FLEMMING – At our last Council meeting, we had a first reading to purchase and preserve 48 acres of land. This is a step I personally and we as a Council believe will be one of many purchases made in effort to retain the rural feel the Jackson we all know and love. The feedback I saw however, was fairly mixed; some saw this law and many people did not consider this the best use of tax dollars. I own a home and business in town, I am acutely aware of the strain property taxes place on residents and their own budgets.
The Council shares your desire to see your tax money being used wisely and efficiently. I can assure you this purchase, for the preservation of open space is an extremely worthy use of your tax dollars. One does not have to look very far over our borders of our town, to see lessons learned from other municipalities about the real cost of failing to preserve open space both financially and for quality of life. Yes, there is a cost for preservation and a far greater cost if we don’t do it. We need to preserve as much land as we can.
COUNCIL VICE PRESIDENT KERN – This weekend I wanted everybody to know that our very own Holbrook Little League on Bartley Road, will be hosting the New Jersey State Little League, Baseball and Softball Champion Games. Tournament starts Saturday at 11am and Championship Softball game will begin at 1pm Sunday. The Championship Baseball game begins at 2pm on Sunday. Please come out to show your support them.
Last week, I spoke about the Mail-in ballot procedure and importance of updating your voter registration and voter address. The County Clerk has stated that live ballots will be sent out to all voters that are on the County registry this week or next week. If you receive a ballot to your address that does not belong to someone in your household please call the Ocean County Board of Elections at (732) 929-2167. Thank you all for coming out and have a nice week.
COUNCIL PRESIDENT SAUICKIE – Councilman Flemming mentioned the 48 acres of land that is up for purchase tonight; that open space preservation is aligned with what the residents of this town demanded of this Council. The 48 acres is the largest open land purchase exclusively done by Jackson Township in the last 20 years. It’s also less than a mile from the previous largest purchase, which was the 34 acres of Rova Farms last year by the town in an environmentally sensitive area.
It’s in line to protect Jackson’s unique environment while also maintaining Jackson’s rural quality of life and protection of overdevelopment. In addition, tonight we have 3 other purchases on the agenda including Ordinance 18-20, which adds an additional 4 acres to Rova Farms. In town, we have a community that is called 60 Acres. It’s obviously a name for the size of the property that it’s built on; it is a very nice community, but it is a lot of homes. In total tonight we take action preserving roughly the same amount of land. To me it is an example of this Governing body working together with Administration. We