TOMS RIVER – A meeting regarding a controversial change in the police department will be held at 7 p.m. on January 31, and residents should know a few things before watching.
First of all, the meeting room will be closed to the public. Council President Craig Coleman said that the number of attendees will exceed capacity for the room, so the only access the public will have will be virtual.
The meeting will be broadcast via Zoom. However, the township’s Zoom account only allows for 500 participants. Therefore, you might want to watch it on the town’s YouTube channel when it is being streamed live.
In the past, large meetings were held at larger venues, such as Toms River High School North. A school representative said that no one from the township reached out to them to request a larger venue.
Issues
The town is creating eight new positions that would provide for an ambulance 24/7 on the barrier island. To make up the cost of these new positions, two retiring police captains will not be replaced. Additionally, the number of other police officers is being reduced from 113 to 112.
People in favor of this are celebrating the lifesaving move to protect people in Ortley Beach and nearby areas. People against this feel that the police department needs these captains to do the supervisory work that keeps the entire town safe.
However, there are other controversial topics that are happening now, such as the changes to the animal shelter and the shuffling of positions in administration. These will all be addressed at the meeting.
How To Comment
Township Council meetings have a variety of things happen, so there will be a lot of business besides the police topic. The council will pay bills, pass resolutions, and do any number of housekeeping items.
The change to the police department will take place during the final reading (often called a “second reading”) of an ordinance. What happens is that the ordinance will be addressed and then the meeting will open to public comment. This is your time to speak.
The time limit for comments was reduced from 5 minutes to 3 minutes recently, so be succinct. You have to provide your name and address to comment.
As of this writing, there are four ordinances on for final reading. Each of these ordinances will have a public comment period. However, each public comment period is for that ordinance only. You can’t comment on anything you want during the final reading of an ordinance – only that specific ordinance.
There is a portion of the meeting toward the end where you can comment about anything. The 3-minute rule still applies.
Links To Watch
The town’s YouTube channel is here: https://www.youtube.com/@tomsrivertownshipnj1285/streams
The Zoom link is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89508159869
Meeting ID: 895 0815 9869
The access information for the video conference/call-in option for public comment is:
One tap mobile
+13052241968,,89508159869# US
+13092053325,,89508159869# US
Meeting ID: 895 0815 9869
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