The Camden County Board of Commissioners opened its meeting with roll call and the pledge, then read a lengthy slate of resolutions covering public-works contracts, parks and trails work, health and human services contracts, audits and personnel items.

The most concrete contract amounts read aloud included an amendment for Berlin Cross Keys Road engineering (+$119,330.70), a $362,656.87 award for linked-trail design, an Atlantic Avenue trail contract of about $2,993,457, and an Evesham Road improvement contract of roughly $3,943,651.08. Other items included playground and parking-lot change orders, household hazardous waste services, and multiple human-services contracts described by commissioners and county staff.

Why it matters: the reading covered spending authorizations, grant applications and budget transfers that the board said are contingent, in many cases, on passage of the county's 2026 temporary or permanent budgets. Several items were explicitly described as contingent on future budget approval, signaling that detailed funding decisions will follow later meetings.

Public questions and staff responses

Two members of the public asked questions during the public hearing. Kate Delaney of Collingswood asked about Resolutions 65, 66 and 67: ‘‘how much we have left of those funds and what's being changed in terms of the funding categories’’ for the county's American Rescue Plan (ARP) allocation, she said, and asked for details on pay increases and the Board of Taxation expansion. Steve Williams, a county staff member, replied that the ARP reallocation in Resolution 65 is a cleanup of rounding amounts totaling "less than $1,000 across all projects" within an overall ARP budget the county described as $98,000,000, and that Resolution 66 would grant a flat 3.5% increase for unrepresented management employees, consistent with recent union settlements.

Casey Palmer of Pine Hill asked about two items: whether the county would sequence Cross Keys Road construction after finishing Branch Avenue (county staff said Branch Avenue would be finished first) and whether joining the Defense Logistics Agency equipment program would amount to "militarizing police." Palmer asked, "Wouldn't that be kinda like militarizing police, though, in a county that is promoting, like, community policing?"

Director Cappelli responded that the county is not committing to acquire any specific Defense Logistics Agency equipment now but is only authorizing participation in the program so the county could request equipment if a department determines it is necessary. "It's not like, we're buying a tank or anything of that nature," Cappelli said, adding the program can include items ranging from bulletproof vests to other types of equipment. He also noted that Resolution 92, which would have authorized a particular DLA item, was pulled so the board could get further information.

Board actions and next steps

After public comment the board moved to close the public hearing and then adopted a closed-session resolution under the Open Public Meetings Act (chap. 231, P.L. 1975) to discuss three topics in private: a presentation regarding sewer issues affecting Camden County; litigation involving the probation office objective campus; and personnel actions. The board approved the closed-session resolution by voice vote (the transcript records only "Aye" responses) and later adjourned without further public action. The resolution text said those matters would be made public when commissioners make final determinations.

What the transcript does not show

The commissioners read and enumerated many individual resolutions and contract amounts, but the transcript records the readings and limited public Q&A; it does not record roll-call votes on the individual resolutions listed during the readings, nor does it show final approvals for each item on their face. Several funding items were explicitly described as contingent on passage of the 2026 temporary or permanent budgets.

The meeting was then closed for the listed closed-session topics, and the board adjourned.