Council approves local application for arcade gaming after recusal and split vote

Lambertville's City Council voted to authorize a local application to the Games of Chance Control Commission for an arcade operator, after one council member declared a conflict and recused themselves and another publicly said they would not support expanding that operator's activities.

During discussion of Resolution 188, a council member stated, "I have a conflict so I have to recuse myself," and the motion proceeded to a local roll-call vote. The roll call recorded in the meeting transcript identified Councilwoman Kaminsky as voting yes, Councilman Stegman as voting no, Councilman L as recused, and Council President Lambert as voting yes. The chair announced the resolution carried after the vote.

A member of the council also expressed discomfort with the process by saying on the record that they were not comfortable with "the process in which this was approved and deliberated" and therefore would not support extending the operator's activities. The record does not include a longer floor explanation attributing that remark to a named speaker beyond the meeting voice.

The council discussed related zoning history and confirmed that the prior zoning review for the operator had gone before the zoning board while fee questions were handled administratively; staff said current fees for the existing machines were paid and new-machine fees had not yet been charged pending the application outcome.

Outcome: Resolution 188 was approved following the roll-call vote with at least two yes votes, one no vote and one recusal. The council did not record additional roll-call details for other members in the transcript.