Lebanon Township Committee authorizes executive session to discuss collective bargaining

Deputy Mayor Jay Wojcik called the special meeting of the Township Committee of Lebanon to order at 6:10 p.m. on Oct. 30, 2025, and recorded roll call. Committee members Abe Abuchowski and Tom McKee were present; Lorraine England, Township Chief Financial Officer, and Carolynn Budd, Township Clerk, were also listed as present.

On the agenda was Resolution No. 179-2025, authorizing the committee to hold an executive session under the New Jersey Open Public Meetings Act. The resolution cites the Open Public Meetings Act (N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 et seq.) and the executive-session statute (N.J.S.A. 40:4-12) and specifies the exemption relied upon as "a collective bargaining agreement, or the terms and conditions thereof."

Tom McKee moved to adopt the resolution; Abe Abuchowski seconded. The motion carried with all three committee members recorded as voting aye (Mr. Abuchowski, Mr. Wojcik, Mr. McKee). The committee entered executive session at 6:13 p.m.

The public comment period was opened and closed without any speakers; the committee had set a two-minute limit per speaker. After the executive-session discussion, the committee reconvened in public session at 7:09 p.m. on a motion by Abe Abuchowski, seconded by Tom McKee.

Having no further business after returning to open session, the committee approved a motion to adjourn on a motion by Abe Abuchowski, seconded by Tom McKee, and the meeting adjourned at 7:09 p.m. The minutes were prepared and certified by Township Clerk Carolynn Budd.

The resolution and its invocation of the collective bargaining exception make no further details public in the minutes; the record states the Mayor and Committee will make discussion public when the township attorney advises disclosure will not detrimentally affect the municipality's position.