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changed hands. It is his understanding that one home is being used as a house of worship and another home is being prepared to be a school. He believes both the Police and Code Enforcement departments were notified. Buildings are used against Township Ordinances. No response with their home owners association. He asked for awareness of the situation and for it to be addressed.
Mayor Michael Reina thanked Mr. Sargent and the other first responders for their service. He went on to state that something has been out on the streets through the wavelengths for quite some time is that his office is open five days a week for issues such as this people come through the door constantly to talk to us and let us go on what's going on, whether we want to hear it or not. It's our responsibility to hear it. He wants to hear it from the source. He gave an open invitation all of Jackson Township that the Mayor's Office is open for business; you shouldn't wait for a Council meeting or when the Meet the Mayor resumes to come forward with information that you think we need to hear. Stated he cannot speak on behalf of law enforcement agencies because we can't direct them to go out and enforce anything; we can let them know what the constituents complaints are and that's all the Mayor's office is able to do. It doesn't mean we're passing the buck. They have to report back to the gentleman sitting to his left who runs the day to day operations of the town. Mayor Michael Reina stated normally he is in his office by 4 o'clock; so if you make an appointment you'll find him here at 4 o'clock but don't let that stop you. The Business Administrator is here 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. Mayor Reina stated that BA Wall is the entity that runs the town during the day, he gets briefed daily sometimes five times in the day. He interacts with the Township attorney, the Business Administrator and with Council on a regular basis, he stated you cannot rely on social media. He needs facts, to speak to people and then he can relay that information to the proper authorities.
Mayor Michael Reina stated to Mr. Sargent he knows the issues at hand; there are legal aspects that they have to uphold, they have to wait for certain items. He has been told a lot of the [Court] cases have been held up because of Covid and they’re still not holding certain types of cases in Court. He stated you’re not falling on deaf ears, we are moving forward; unfortunately, it’s at a snail’s pace because of the Court system. The information that comes is must be verified, which is time consuming and in a hundred square mile town that’s constantly changing. You could imagine how much time it could take as far as the Building Department is concerned, which recently hired two additional inspectors and had a resignation; we’re constantly looking to staff up with quality and sometimes as fast as we hire people they leave. You have Code Enforcement Officers that are out because they are sick. These are all the things we do not announce but when you ask a question, we want to answer you in the most reasonable legal fashion without going into some kind of litigation that we are currently going through, which prevents us from doing other things.
Mayor Michael Reina expressed to take them up on the offer to meet with us and let us know what's going on and we will follow it through; we work for you.
Council President Kern asked Attorney Greg McGuckin to provide an update on 41 Mill Pond and 16 Short Hills on where we are on the process there.
Attorney Greg McGuckin stated it has been referred to his office by Code Enforcement and Construction Department they’re reviewing the documents now that have been provided.
JOSEPH RUCCI-24 SHORT HILLS BLVD. – Had addressed the Council with concerns of chain saws being used in the early hours of the morning – 2:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m.
ANGEL FERRER- 15 CEDARVIEW AVE- He expressed his concerns that the neighborhood is changing, one home is used like a hotel, and he was concerned about solicitors walking up to him while he is walking his dog in the neighborhood asking if they can buy his house. He doesn't feel safe.
Councilman Sauickie wanted to confirm this is the same development that had 700 person party last year, and Mr. Ferrer said yes. Councilman Sauickie asked Mr. Ferrer if realtors are approaching him, and Mr. Ferrer said yes, while he was walking his dog. He said the realtors are telling him not to list the house, implying they will just buy it.