okay in accordance with the open public meeting Act of the state of New Jersey adequate notice of the Wednesday May 8th 2024 remote meeting of the Franklin Township Trails advisory committee was posted on the Township's website and electronically transmitted to the officially designated newspapers indicating that this remote meeting would take place uh via Microsoft teams at 7 p.m on May e okay let's go ahead and move on to roll call okay Vanessa Jones present Ann Marie arusi is on our way um uh Christopher Gonda presid Jim Kowski here okay councilman karazi here robertt Kovac present jasha Patel I haven't heard from her yet and PES La I haven't heard from him him yet either but I did send them both the link Michael morasco you're here too okay okay an Marie is calling me okay hey anarie hey how are how are you good good good um can you so sorry for all the craziness I just can't believe it I know I know we have to get you some good luck with the stuff it's it's not fair um can you guys hear anarie as well yeah yes you can great yes oh we can't hear you Vanessa we can hear you okay oh now you you can okay I had to turn my head my hands for you got it we're done with the roll call yet okay great so an Marie is officially present hey hi everybody sorry worry been on this for 20 minutes now and I just I just can't believe this it's a nightmare all right um we need to have like a well you and I can have a uh a joint login session our next remote meeting so you can come over and we can log in together um okay so let's go ahead um is there a need to uh open for public comment oh no I'm sorry we need approval of the minutes first yeah um can we have a motion to approve the April 1 minutes I move that we approve the April 1 minutes can I have a second I second it okay um oh um Chris Chris you're you're um taking the notes today you're our secretary great the vote for the last meeting okay um anybody else want to abstain um from the vote for the minutes from the last meeting I abstained I wasn't present okay all right um any questions about the uh minutes before we move to approve them okay vote to approve them all right all in favor of approving the minutes I I hi okay we had two extensions Chris Gonda and Jim gigowski um all right moving on to the next item um public comment is there a need terar to move into public comment we don't have any members of the public uh we have Claire Paul here but she's here talk about National Trails day so okay and we were going to go ahead and jump to that part of the agenda to take advantage of Claire being with us so Claire thanks for being here we're excited for you to join us on National Trails day and one of our members PES he's not on yet um but I know he's uh looking forward to uh to joining us that day as well um with maybe some people from um the having a table about native plants that might complement well what we're doing great well thank you so much for having me um I am calling from the field so just let me know if you can't hear me or the you know background noise gets too much um I'll start by introducing my program for anyone who's unfamiliar with it the New Jersey Watershed ambassadors program is an americore program which is a national service based uh program it's kind of like the p core if you've ever heard of that but we act in a domestic capacity our program specifically is a partnership with the Department of Environmental Protection and what we aim to do is conservation education and stewardship of our water sheds so uh there's 20 of us we each have a watershed within New Jersey I have the millstone Watershed wonderfully and um there we do three main things one of which is freshwater stream monitoring which is what I've been doing today where we actually go out to the streams and we conduct assessments to uh help the D gather data on on their health um we do stewardship projects like Trail maintenance or invasive species removals or increasing stream buffers with tree plantings and the third part of what we do is education so I am so excited to come and do an activity with with you all with for your celebration um I thought that I would uh give you a couple of ideas and then you could um you know discuss whatever makes the most sense for you uh we can really do anything I that I can relate back to water or watersheds but a few activities that I thought might make sense um one is I have a model called the enviroscape which is a dynamic model model of a watershed and it's interactive um I usually give a presentation about that it can be anywhere from five to 45 minutes about talking about kind of how water moves through our watersheds and how pollution can move through the watersheds And discussing some ways that we can prevent that pollution from reaching our streams that can be directed at I think I've done it as young as pre all the way up to adults so that's a really easy one to I I can cater it to whoever the audience is um but since it's a trail day I was thinking maybe one of the more interactive activities might be nice we have another one called amazing water which is we make a sort of maze this one would require some sort of concrete um top area or another way to sort of make a maze on on the ground and then we have kids kind of run through the Maze and other people stand at points on the maze with little tags like Post-it notes the idea being the kids are water moving through our systems and there's pollution with our systems and how well can they get through them without getting pollution on them and then we maybe compare two mazes or we can talk about where these sources of pollution come from something like that um another one is The Incredible Journey of a water droplet that's a really fun activity it's basically six stations well I think it's actually nine stations with h it's like a dice and the students or kids they become a water droplet and then they roll the dice and it's like oh I started in the mountains and now I've gone up to a cloud um and then I might go into a glacier or then I might go into an animal and we can discuss the water cycle and yeah and have water moves throughout our our systems so those are activity ideas I like those um the question I have for you with like The Incredible Journey of the water droplet I think that's super cute the only question I have is are you able to like how many people do you need to do that activity like to run it I can run it myself okay it's it's a little bit you know because have a lot of fun with it they have a lot of energy but it's designed to allow that space for them you know they just space to you know flip it and then walk to the next station oh cool I like that I mean I like that one but it's not up to me of course you know but I like them all they sound nice that one is that one kind like a board game um yeah it's it's in a way so one way that we do it you can either give students um like a bracelet and we can have beads and each station has a different bead color so they keep track of their um usually it's like a like a pipe cleaner um and and they put a a bead for each station that they go to and then they can keep track of their Journey or you can give them just like a little paper handout and they can write each station that they go to so it's kind of like in a way it's like a board game but you've like brought the board game to life and they are they are the moving pieces and so what what do you need to set all this stuff up on because people are are standing during this presentation so adults standing and sometimes kids they don't have the largest attention of span when they're standing yeah so I I don't know what what your thoughts are on that well they're gonna moving right yeah yeah so uh for something like an incredible Journey The Incredible Journey we can discuss the water cycle pretty rapidly um with maybe some props to keep it interesting and then once the kids go they just kind of go and they they make a line at each station they flip the dice they move to the next station they get into the line flip the dice so then they're moving about I mean I like all of them but I just I'm just thinking about the audience we get and how to engage I'm just trying to visualize the whole thing okay yeah I can say that the enviroscape is the activity that would require standing in one place for the longest um but either of the other two um I can make the speeches really short and keep the activity as the longer portion Claire do you have a videotape of the activities that we can take a look and maybe uh get an idea how exactly being done I can look for those they are part of something called project wet so I can definitely take a look and see if they have any resources on their website I can also send you all a document detailing each of the activities if that would be helpful I think I think that's good the only thing is like you know June 1st is when National Trails day is so if I think we need to decide and and also because do you need anything from like in terms of the supplies or do you bring all those I should be able to have enough supplies for simple it's just papers maybe post okay so um Claire what was the first one called the first example you gave us what was that called The envir Escape The envir Escape okay yeah and so you're saying that one is probably the one that requires like the most focused attention the most standing the other two the other two a little bit more interactive yes yeah so I think you know so looking at those two so we have that amazing water and then we have the incredible journey and I heard you saying the amazing water one that you kind of need concrete for that yeah so you do need I mean so we don't have so just to clarify so we don't have concrete at the trail we're working at so I think that one's kind of off the table so if we're looking for interactive um and we can't have concrete I think the the third one um is probably going to be our best bet and I know you said these are all part of project wet I know I have I have that book um at my school had the training in that a while ago um but I think those lesson plans are even available online so if we wanted to Google uh the project in Project wet an incredible journey of water we could even see the lesson plan is that about right yeah yeah you should be able to find it and either way and if you can't or if you can I can also look look it up and uh scan it to you okay I agree with what T said it's coming up so we do have to make a decision tonight about which way we want to go right yeah Claire I know you said concrete for the amazing water activity but can that be done on a flat grassy surface it would just require another way to make the main I don't know if it would be okay to use like spray paint or if you would want to do that or if you can think of I mean it might be more labor intensive because normally what we do is we use chalk to just draw out a maze on the concrete maybe you could use flags or tape or something um so that could be an option to explore I mean I guess I mean how big of a space like if you were to break in cardboard would that work the only thing to the only thing to keep in mind guys is if it gets rainy or like anything like that it's going to be kind of problematic I think we should just focus on what we actually can do you know like what we have um yeah that I mean that's my thought okay well something that I could do is think about how to prepare both activities for the space and um if there is time or the kids want to um I could could just bring both activities and then they'd have the ability and maybe we'd start with amazing uh sorry The Incredible Journey and then if they want to you could do amaz amazing water is there any concerns with the as far as like the um The Incredible Journey of water is there anybody who has a reservation about that one now having heard Claire clarify by it or do we all feel that that one would be a real viable option I like that one what are what are the reservations about about about it any I don't I mean I don't have it does anyone have any problems if Claire does the amazing journey of water there I think that would be a good activity for the kids on top of if Peres brings his the plants and we do a nature walk I think that's a pretty comprehensive day Claire how how long does it take complete so it depends on these activities they're really easy to adjust to a time frame so it's more of how long would you like the activity to last and I can plan for it to last that long fantastic hey ter can I I'm sorry what's the what's the minimum time that you will need probably 15 minutes okay yeah I don't know can I is it gonna let me share do you have the share button like up to the top right I have the share button yeah you should be able to content only is that what I want to do uh share it should come up do you have options to share like screen presenter mode it says presenter mode and then it has content only standout side by side and reporter you don't have screen there okay hang on U let's see here um chair is right next to the leave the telephone all the way at the uh right side I have do I I clicked on the share button but it's just um the options it gives me once I click on it yeah it's not really you're you're trying to share a PowerPoint right I would I would select content only if that's what you're trying to do yes I'm clicking it and nothing's happening oh huh sometimes it'll just let you share your entire screen and then everything that's on the screen will get shared and sometimes that's the simplest is there a you should have if you've got one or more screens I don't know how many screens you you've got if you're just on a laptop or whatever there should be an option to share your screen laptop yeah it's just not working okay not a big deal I was just going to share like once I just Googled uh project wet Incredible Journey of water and you know and it shows a little a guide of it if anybody at home wants to do the same thing you could just Google it um and it has The Incredible Journey activity and there's even a video of it so I I recommend that we um take a look at this and look at the video and if we have any ideas or suggestions for Claire that maybe we think would even personalize it to our trail that day um we could get back to and share it with her all right so Claire it sounds like we would I guess we're saying just if we're going to go with The Incredible Journey one and you'll definitely be there what time um should Claire get there everybody this way we can give her the details what time do we have the dark start of the hike terara I can't remember what we had said and published already uh I don't know that we have published anything yet have we um I know we picked the date and the time so it could be published I just don't it's definitely June 1st is the date and the place what time were let me look here what time were we thinking of do we want to do like a 10: a.m. what do you guys think I don't I don't I don't have a preference 10's good I think 10's okay it's June 1st right yeah Saturday June 1st it is the one day of the year I'm unavailable told us the Hungarian Festival right that's the day of the Hungarian Festival um I am unfortunately unavailable that day so is 10: a. good for everyone all right so o' is great okay ear we don't gets a better chance okay so Claire it looks like we're going to do 10 so I don't know how much time you need to set it up but I guess if we're ready to go at 10: that would be great so if you get there early and set set up what you need to set up that would be great if you have any questions or anything you can reach out to me before then and I am going to put together a flyer if there's any information particular that you already have like a logo or like some kind of language and you can send it to me that would be helpful sure okay now just so I understand 10 AM is the start of the activity yeah okay so we'll have the so maybe we I'll be there to set up at 9: and then we we'll get started we'll do like a welcome a welcome introduction at 10: and then and then move into the activity and do you want to do the activity near near like the parking lot area or near the stream um it needs a bit of an open space so probably Clos to lot that makes sense okay all right I think that's great and then Vanessa maybe you can follow up with PES and see exactly what his activity is this way we can get everything on the flyer and then we can get that out I don't think it's an activity he emailed you and I Tera about the having a table for the plant group he's part of right that's all I was referring to oh okay got it um Claire would it help to have like a canopy or something like I can't tell I don't really know where the sun is coming from at that time in the morning or what the temperature is going to be that morning either so I don't know if that's something we want to think about um Tera does the the township have one or does there Ked have one I'm sure we do I can ask uh DPW if they can get it there or get it set up that probably they would do it the day before I can definitely ask Tara I have one if you want I can bring it down I can bring it there okay at least by 10 okay if you don't mind that might be easier honestly that might be faster I I don't mind that's great thank you Jim perfect okay yes so so what what PES had said is he was speaking with members of the Native Plant Society um and there's interest in providing a booth to the Native Plant Society to offer educational resources about flora and vegetation in the area okay I don't think I think that you know it'll just be another opportunity for people to get some information got it yeah if he wants to bring you know if he brings that and wants to set it up and everything that's perfect yeah absolutely okay can I join PR then this is something interest to me this is I'm sorry I joined late very sorry about that okay this is we talking about uh National Trail day right yes right yeah I can join with PR about that oh great yeah I'm sure he would like that yeah I would connect with him on that and see what he what his plans are but that I think yeah that would be super helpful awesome okay so I think we have a plan so Claire you're all set with where to go Bunker Hill I would say yeah get there like 9ish 930 somewhere around there to set up on Saturday June 1 yep perfect that sounds great and Claire and if I we can I can Havey exchange my phone number with you for your email sure and and you know that's my adopted trail and I I'll be there and and um there many of us will be there but I'm you know I'm happy to do anything ahead of time as well if you need help okay great thank you Claire this is gonna be great thank you so much thanks for joining much thank you all right yes thank you all all right bye bye bye Claire okay um going back to to our regular agenda um the next item we have is site plan review okay yep no site plan review for this time a d okay hold on I put the wrong thing up yep no site plan review okay um next we move on to new business which we already started with the National Trails day um we're going to have the nature walk at Bunker Hill Natural Area we'll have the activity with Claire from the wat our Watershed Ambassador um and uh and and Tara thank you for networking uh to make that partnership I appreciate that oh no problem um next we have um advertising so I'm G to make the flyer as soon as I have all the information I'll get it to it um I'll get it out to the kiosks and I will get it on social media Med and I can also put it on FTV um so I can do that I just need to make the flyer and get all the information so I'll start doing that editing last year's and at least this way we can get it out and what about parks and wreck oh yes parks and wck yep I can get it to them too and Tara who is our contact there now uh well it's hard to say right now so I've been working with Janet timmery um I don't know though that she's the actual contact I think right now while they are kind of in flux we are kind of like working with who is available so sometimes I work with Maryann Reagan sometimes Janet um so but Janet I've been working with for her to get things posted and she's been really helpful Andy White was the one that was doing most of the uh the work that uh that they used to do no not since she um took over the youth center she's all she's over there 100% now gotta okay I think actually I should back up I think right now she is the acting director of recreation but she wouldn't be like yeah who we work with on the postings and things okay who was that I missed the name I'm sorry the council meeting next Tuesday about the the uh National Trails day oh good good perfect yeah that would be great um he's talking about Wendy Wendy white okay she's in she used to work at Recreation she was kind of in charge of special events and then she became the director of the youth center and now since Bo has um moved on she is the acting director of recreation but that job is still open and posted so okay um Tara also can we also I know in the past we've done this um uh send things to the library to post yeah sure I know I took the last three flyers I dropped them off because you have to drop them I mean I don't know if you can there's an email option but I just drop them off and I guess somebody there looks them over and then posts them like we don't get to post them ourselves right right um and and when it'sa what other thing that I can do is that uh as you may know we have about 70 plus houses of worship and I have their contacts so I can send that flyer to uh the interface group in town oh great that would be great nice perfect okay so we'll work on that getting that out and is there is there anybody um who can ALS do the flyers in Spanish or um and if not is that something that um you can share with me in a format that can be easily like edited um and then I could see if I could find somebody uh yes there's definitely someone or there was someone at least in Recreation that can do that translation so I can see if they're still there um and if not I'm sure we can find someone at the township so I'll ask I think saffy works with people often to have translations done so I can see who she works with thanks [Music] okay um volunteers I think we have a lot of volunteers so we have Claire Vanessa you'll be there you said um jasha and proves are going to be there Jim's going to be there an Marie is gonna be there an Marie great so I think we're I think we're in good shape greatly I'm unavailable that day um I have another work event uh in another town that's okay no that's okay that'll be nice um and um so this is our last meeting before that event oh my goodness I can't believe I know I know well we have everything set up we really just need to get the flyer out but everything else is set up so I think we're in good shape um so Tera something I don't have I know um last couple events we've had like I have like the the fold up banners I have the event sign but I don't have Maps I don't have any trail maps so if we could get trail maps you know for this event um that would be great um Bunker Hill Franklin Park natural I don't care if they're the new or the old one just like you know to to have to give out to people that would be really nice okay okay the next item we have under new business is for Michael um the bird Blind repair replacement yep okay so just GNA share my screen real quick are you able to share okay Michael or um let me see I'll do it right now okay yeah should be good um is this loading for you guys I don't see it okay there we go uh I don't see it hold on coming you're good there you go okay all right here and Mar I'm gonna try and FaceTime you so before we start I just want to just if if you don't mind Michael just give a little background on this so as you guys know Michael's been our intern for the last few months uh this is going to be his last meeting with us right Michael uh because he's finished his internship so yes one of the things he's worked on a lot of stuff while he's been here one thing he's been working on is I asked him to kind of go and uh visit the bird blind at negri napot and I wanted him to present some ideas that he came up with for the bird blind at negri nepot so this is his work and I did not help whatsoever um but you know I think he's done a really good job so so go ahead Michael when you're ready okay so yeah um so we'll go to the overview so um what is a bird blind so in short a bird blind is a shelter used by bird watchers and photographers to watch and photograph birds at close range without disturbing them so this is the bird blind at negri napot Native grasslands and the purpose of this presentation is we're going to look at it in its current state look at its problems and explore potential solutions to enhance its functionality um so yeah we're going to start with the current state of the project um and this is it let's take a look okay so when I first got there there this was the um in my opinion the biggest issue what I like first saw as damage was the floor um yeah so you might ask why why is the floor worse here than uh more inside the actual bird blind I think it's because of the stoop on the roof see how it's leaning forward I think it's draining onto itself and it's causing water damage um yeah you can also just see um some dirt and debris just you know dirty um moving forward this is the other wall so here you can see a little bit more mold and dirt in certain spots um if you look closely on the side paneling I don't know if you guys can see my Mouse um yeah we can down here floor so down here and over here um it's up here and here too but I noticed that the wood the side paneling started to warp at the bottom so there's a lot of holes and cracks near the bottom um here the left picture is what it looks like the side paneling coming off of the the screws and the next picture is it's just a beam um it has a crack which isn't too uncommon or um terrible but it is something to just to keep an eye on um let's continue all right so next up is the ramp um overall the boards weren't too bad they're a little you know old but the worst thing about the ramp was the the S uh the railing it's just leaning lopsided towards the back um also I just want to say if anybody wants to say anything at any point feel free um I just really want to start the conversation you know what I mean all right so this is the outside um here near the bottom you can really see the waves in the wood and it's just Sun damaged um here's the other side um so I wanted to just make a point that when I was back here I noticed a lot of these is there's trash bags under the dirt um I'm assuming they did that to keep the plants from growing and blocking the windows which is a good idea but if you wanted to have the trash bags like replaced there are like um they're called landscaping fabric so it keeps weeds and stuff it doesn't let them bear their Roots so that's just an alternative all right so next unwanted guest so yeah um these ANS really lined the back wall there were so many um next there were bees oh um yeah those are not bees those are wasps wasp even worse yes yeah yeah many of them um oh my God these bees are these one these wasp are better than having the carpenter ones cuz those Carpenter ones really would eat into the wood so at least it's not those ones um okay this was um in I guess it's the front where the window is um there were just you know holes so it could be mice groundhogs who knows just I just wanted to make a point um no rodents all right so the fence and overgrowth this is a picture um I found online I don't know when it was taken but if you look at the next photo there's a whole tree that grew so it be a few years but my point here is just um just uh you know general maintenance with the grass can really you know do a lot of work the before and afters um okay so uh for the fence there's can you go back tree for a second sure I'm like sharing pictures with anarie so he trying to take some shots the one with the uh the one right before this one I think this one that one yeah perfect thank you that's it okay yeah so um some of the fences were broken um on the right pitchure the fence was leaning forward um it would wobble with the wind and stuff so um yeah this is through one of the windows one of the views you get um and here's the other one so I'm not sure uh sure what plant this is but I'm sure it could be pushed back um the front window was fine it was just the the two side windows that had you know all this uh Bramble blocking it all right um all right so potential Builders um just looking at this list um you can kind of put in order which ones will be more expensive than others um but so starting at local construction companies or contractor um it it might you know the Boy Scouts are good but experience can really um you know say a lot just like for the roof angle for example you know somebody with experience um they might just have a better idea or you know specialized nail TR designers um I didn't know these existed before but I searched up New Jersey nail Trail designer and there were a l a lot of them I left a few resources at the uh end of this presentation but yeah um that that that's somebody else you can go to I'm sure that's going to be more expensive but they specialize in you know designing nature trails and they do they do a commission based so you can ask them um or you tell them what you want them to do and they would do it so with Architects and designers um I was thinking that you can kind of you just um ask them to design it for you not build it but just design it like um draw down paper give you ideas just to make make a design that looks harmonious with nature in a sense you know I like it yeah so next is community or volunteer group so that's we can get um groups like boy scouts or something like that uh landscaping and or Outdoors uh Design Services that's another option I have a uh brother-in-law and he he does this stuff but like Landscaping he'll build things for people but that's in Pennsylvania I'm sure you can find them in New Jersey but um yeah and lastly is local universities which I was thinking that maybe um it could be a project or something that instead of uh you just give some students to design it for you kind of the same way as architect as designers they won't actually build it for you but they'll come up with the idea and design you know that's a good idea that's a really good idea and then figuring out how to build it afterwards I like that that's that's a smart idea we also have access you know University but we also could even run that through the votch like their carpentry sh or something like that you know I like it I was looking for clubs or something I couldn't find anything like that but yeah I'm sure there is carpentry clubs or something that would you know yeah School resources all right so moving on materials all right so softwood hardwood and aluminum out of all the uh materials I looked over I think these ones are the best three options in the bottom right you have other materials like plastic vinyl steel but I think softwood hardwood and aluminum are the Best Bets so um for softwood and hardwood these ones uh whatever one is is the other one isn't for the most part so softwood is light hardwood expensive softwood is more inexpensive than hardwood softwood lasts about a decade while hardwood can last several decades um softwood is only weather resistant when it's treated with chemicals and hardwood has that natural weather resistant um um softwood has less of En environmental impact hardwood has more of environmental impact um and softwood is just a soft wood so it's easier to cut with and uh yeah hardwood um yeah has natural bug resistant which is a good one so um sorry here's some options at the bottom for each wood um again I left some of these resources at the end of the presentation um and aluminum um I think that's it's the best metal I could have found on this um lightweight yet strong very durable and corrosion resistant it's easy to maintain it's sustainable in the sense that you can recycle it it does not attract insects um it's malleable which is good for design but bad for scratches and dense um but it could be more expensive than some Woods um yeah moving on all right so here designs so um pretty much I just want to make a point that like all all the bird BL has to do is give you some covers so it's really flexible and you can really do whatever you want here so um first we have these fence like ones which I personally like because um you know you don't have to worry about you know the floor and the ceiling or the roof um so just you know less material and you can make them as long as you want you can make shape to things um and you can put the windows and holes wherever you want so here's some more examples yeah this one has the benches I like that this one's made of metal a little more artsy here's another metal one and another metal one all right this is this one has a deck um I think the deck looks nice especially um this is kind of sim similar to the um the site at the lands just cuz uh the bird blind at the grasslands it's kind of built onto a mound so maybe could do something like this um here's another one with a little deck and uh here's another one yeah just get the ideas flowing so for this one um the only thing I wanted to say is this has the net I wouldn't say like I wouldn't I don't think it looks too good like this one but I do like the net maybe that would be good over the windows just as like currents so people can pick them up and put them down something like that yeah yeah here's another one this one's little bigger the Gazebo one this one's pretty cool um this one is probably the nicest one I have um so as you go in all these can open you know independently they have uh papers and stuff a little lavish and uh here's this one this one kind of looks like a sauna I guess and um I saw a lot of these ones on Google I personally don't really like these ones but I just saw them everywhere um maybe they are cool I was just thinking that if you try to take a picture maybe it would be kind of hard but maybe the Gap are big enough um I just felt like like I should added this one and uh yeah and this pretty much covers it all um so now maintenance so the bird blind at like right now how how it is um I don't know how many of you guys are leaning towards just completely replaced or if it's repairable it is repairable but a lot of the pieces have to be replaced I'd say um so this just maintenance if if you want to um repair or if you want to just for the future just to know so just regular inspections every few months to check for any uh damage or lose Hardware so like screws or anything so you just want to clean it out every once in a while organic matter dirt mold and algae so reapply protective coding when worn out to protect from UV and elements trim back the vegetation that can cause damage and also the if the vegetation like up close how it is against the fence it could cause water damage too um address drainage issues um to keep a you know strong Foundation um address insects and other Wildlife immediately and encourage visitors to report any damage or concerns um thanks so yeah great I like it you did a good job thank you cool a great presentation I was trying to visualize it because I'm having the same problem uploading all those wonderful images that Vanessa is trying to send me so I think I'm so frustrated because this is the one thing I was so interested in hearing tonight and I'm just spitting nails but anyway um it be possible do you have this written down in like a report format that you could send us I'd like to I can't see anything it's it's a power it's a PowerPoint presentation Amry perfect perfect we will have the recording to go over too oh yeah you'll have the recording of this too that's right I have the Michael did send me his presentation so I can forward it around to everyone um but I think one really good thing is you know because of his internship I really had asked that he really do this research and I think you put a lot of effort into investigating the current conditions as well as some really good options so I think that was something that you did really well um and I think you gave us a lot lot of great ideas I really like that idea about reaching out to the votte or Ruckers or rvcc to have students do the do the design and then if we can give that design to uh Scout group or Girl Scout group or our DPW to follow the design I think that would be that would be really good and it would help other students learn as well you know yeah yeah and Michael I like the options you gave us and I think some key points that you made that railing has to be fixed really quickly because someone is going to get hurt there and also the maintenance of the plant life around there and how that affects the deterioration of the blind um is something that we should be working on constantly and you know we lost some committee members we lost people who did that and um it just points to that need and how to make sure that that happens yeah great job Michael and really very nicely done question that I have is that any idea on the cost either repairing what we have or purchasing one of the beautiful units that you showed us um no I don't have so with the cost uh it depends on how much is going to have to get replaced for the lot of the paneling it has it's cracked at the bottom so I I I see the the side paneling going and at that point when you're going to replace that floor that's W water rotted honestly it's plywood so might as well replace the whole floor and you're replacing the floor then that's this everything else goes you know what I mean yeah well you basically what we said too Michael remember was like if we have to replace the floor and the roof then we're kind of at a we we almost might be better off starting a new you know yeah yeah um I really think a big part is the material that you build it with um and I I think I don't know I didn't see this when it was first built but um it didn't have any coat on it which is a really big deal um you know protective cating and stuff it protects it from everything um even like the sun rain dirt yeah um so in the future um I guess my best advice would just be just reapply the coding because it's really going to make it last longer if not if it's a soft wood it has to be done if it's hardwood it can be uh taken less seriously yeah do we have any IDE I'm sorry do we have any idea how many people use this at all um we don't have a account but a lot of people do use the bird blind because negri nepot is basically really an important site for birding in New Jersey not just in Somerset County it's it's called a birding hotspot by the New Jersey Autobon Society so a lot of people do use the bird blinds I mean it definitely needs some work um but I think it would be beneficial to have there for sure and and any idea where the money will come from well so the open space the open space trust fund has money for you know benches and key you know anything we need equipment or Supply or any kind of things like this we can cover with the open space trust fund so if we knew what type of design we were looking for and we could price out the wood we could request you know the okay from the budget the open space trust fund from the open space advisory committee and then it would come from there excent all right Michael a quick question from Amur here um what did you say about protective cating on there did you specify that sure so um so let's say you go to Home Depot and you get the wood um after you cut it and sand it and stuff you painted the color you want and then you just put it it's like a clear coat um it's just chemicals and it's kind of imagine it as like a table wax yeah okay yeah polyurethane yep I have one question Michael for you and in your research um I'm interested in the aluminum not as that I'm saying we should have the aluminum but I when you brought up aluminum I'm assuming obviously and from looking at your presentation that has a longer life it keeps some of the insects out um did you find was there any big negatives that were highlighted from using uh aluminum I'm just out of curiosity um so yeah um it is metal so I'm sure in you know hot sun it will get hot to the touch right um it it is a softer metal so if somebody throws something at it or something like that it will get Dent um got it other than that um it lasts a long time a lot long than other metals but I'm sure in time it will start to Brown or tarnish or something but it is very resistant got it yeah I think I I hear what you're saying Michael I think it would be kind of hot to sit in there on a hot day yeah um it's sitting in a metal box yeah aluminum is definitely more for if you want to do like a fence kind of a bir blind kind of idea yeah right cuz we have a bench there so you know people could sit down and and enjoy looking at things for you know as long as they'd like and I I'm just concerned aluminum Box by right but this is great um did you mention Michael was there a group you said that does bird blinds I might have misunderstood that um not bird blinds specifically but there were some groups um I left them in notes of the presentation they um okay they're more for for higher so you can tell them like I want a bird blind here um yeah yeah they just do overall Trail um Aesthetics oh so so I misunderstood so it wasn't people who specialized in this kind of construction um they don't specialize in bird blinds per se they specialize in um just building structures for Trails like nature trails and Hikes and out yeah yeah great I think the next step if if it makes sense I think now that we have this presentation Vanessa for example is on the open space advisory committee as well I'm thinking maybe we present this I don't know Michael are you coming to the next open space meeting um I I have question if you want me to present I could I could uh all right we'll talk about your schedule but yeah I think this is a great like I think this has a a lot of great information I think vessa said she still has a question sure yeah I have few questions I wanted to um so I know you um presented a bunch of different models but you also were looking at what we currently have and I think um I heard you say that the primary um concern seem to be the floor and the roof is that correct um mostly the floor the roof looked okay to me um but pitch of the you you said you were concerned about the pitch of the roof right yes the um yeah it just uh I could go back to the picture um okay so yeah here you can just see how it leans forward so I'm assuming that most of the water just pouring onto the wood and that's where the damage comes from okay um so anyways I was kind of thinking about that you know because I know our previous convers well well excited to see these I think these all look beautiful I know one of our conversations was also are we going to um uh fix up this or replace this and so um and so I'm thinking Michael I'm kind of curious to hear a little bit more about what you think about looking at this having looked at this so closely structurally um if you feel that it's at a time where it's necessary to replace it or if changing the floors and and because I'm thinking about the pitch of that roof I know Tara we had talked about um at nonan Williams putting the gutter on something to put a rain barrel right so I'm like wondering is that's something would we want to put like uh whether it be this structure or another structure if we're concerned about that happening putting some type of a gutter on it um to prevent the water from sheating off and damaging the the ground there I mean it's an option could put a gutter on I mean when I talked about putting a gutter on The Pavilion at non Williams I mean that's a bigger area but basically it was like the cost of doing that wouldn't be it would be it would make more sense to just you know basically take the roof off but if we're also going to take the floor off it's like we may as well because the way it is right now even with a rain barrel there if water keeps seeping into this front area which is where the problem is the water damage is not going to stop stop so we could definitely capture it in a rain barrel um but we then have to install a gutter on the uh on the roof there's a there's a pond here right so I mean if if I don't I I'm not sure how much we're how much we're winning with like a a rain barrel or or anything because the water the the the water is damaging the structure you know and and the place I would imagine just to throw my my my thoughts in here as as as what I'm I'm watching all this first of all Michael it's a a great great presentation thank you this is great I would imagine that the right next step right if we want to get to a point where we either have a refurbished or a a new or you know or whatever um uh bird blind I would imagine what we The Next Step that we need to do is we need to we sort of agree as a commission that all right this is this is a project that we want to undertake and the next step would have to be developing some sort of plan because we're going to have to go to somebody somewhere along the way to fund this right to get you know money for materials and you know money for stuff so I actually think out of this plan the most promising thing was seeing if we can approach a university a school you know or some kind of organization for whom this might be a project and a worthwhile thing to take on without you know any funding so we can put together and come up with some some design right that makes sense in this spot right are we going to put it on concrete are we going to redo the deck are we gonna pitch the roof in a different direction right and then and then we come up with some kind of design and say all right this is what we want right and then from that we can come up with some sort of price right we have a materials list we have some sort of cost of how much money do we need what is the labor cost can we get the labor donated can we not get the labor donated and then we can turn to somebody the op space committee applying for Grants you know whatever it is but until we have a plan and say we want to do this right we can't really turn to anybody and say fund this please because we don't know what what this is does that right does that make sense yeah I would say the next step would be to figure out how do we get a design and Robert I have another question actually for Michael based on what you have done Michael is this the right location for uh the bird blind um that's a good question I it probably is just because um if you want something to overlook the water like this um I'm not sure if this mound was here originally or if they built this mound here for this purpose um but just because of that mound being there I I think it probably is the best spot I was going to ask you you Michael I mean this is something that is worth considering and something that we that we put into the idea of the design because if I recall when we went out there uh right with with Vanessa and you know when we were there um my thought my first thought was the blind is on the wrong side of the pond right because it's sort of like well the vegetation is in the way so it's something worth considering whether you know it's in the right place or not I I would say I I think you're right it is at the high point but the vegetation is kind of like between you and the birds hey Michael could you go back to the slide that you kind of had the before of um before that tree was there I think that was a really helpful picture because I've never seen it look like that and I think this speaks to what anarie and Chuck have been saying all along is that we're not maintaining and clearing that vegetation so Robert what you're describing is the after right right yeah yeah put this and we didn't maintain it so it hasn't been maintained look at this look how nice it is I didn't know there was a bench in front of that little hole there so this is like kind a combination of two of Michael's designs that he shared the fence version and the bird bind you know kind of like the house version so if we I mean part of me feels like the first step is clearing this and getting this maintained properly um to really to really determine you know I mean I think the floor if we're going to leave the structure that the floor has to be redone like anarie had said like the like the safety stuff right the safety stuff which is not going to be that expensive you know needs to be addressed but I just when I look at this picture I'm like wow I had no idea it was supposed to be open like that and I think that's an easy fix if we can um partner with DT DPW to do it and and then we can get some more information about what need to be cut back how far back um and Marie I I I does that sound does that make sense oh it makes perfect sense because when the blind was originally installed it was on the higher side and it was because we wanted to we put the ramp there so that people who needed to use a ramp at the end of our Trail could just you know pivot and get up there um instead of going all traversing all the way around it a b the the maintenance of the plants around there is crucial because if you have so much in your way you can't enjoy the view anyway so I agree with you the plan and it that's what it's frustrating it's been the plan for a long time to keep it clean or you know clean of vegetation so people could actually enjoy the view of the birds and less damage to the to it itself and as for you know and I agree with you that the Flor and that railing H has got to be secured even if we change the plan I think we should need we need to change the or Shore up that railing what do you think Michael in terms of a safety standpoint um yeah for the railing um yeah I think it should definitely be screwed back into place um I don't have any pictures zoomed in close to see um I'm I'm sure it would be possible to put it back into place with only a few screws but I didn't get any pictures to confirm that okay I'm just thinking you know immediate immediate versus you know all of our planning and I agree with you Robert we need to have a plan what are we going to do how are we going to maintain it and where do we go from here we know we're going to go to open for funding but you know there's just that whole all those steps need to put into place y so Michael what would you our group I'm sorry I can't see you all but what what our what's our next step here um was that sorry that was a question for me for everybody for everybody we have to move it forward yeah I mean I know Tara I heard what you're saying so so we want to ultimately get to a place where we can make a pitch and I think I think that's what Robert was saying too we can make a pitch to open space for what we're really asking for so I think that like maybe as we wrap up this conversation we can prioritize prioritize what we want to do what we need to do in order to make that pitch right yeah we can start absolutely working on that um I think if Michael is able to present at the open space committee I think they would be impacted like I think they would feel that this is impactful um if not we can always you know show it to them but I agree I think we need to kind of like at least get show them and get because they know about the idea I think we need to show them what's going on here for sure coordinate with DPW to do the necessary cleanup and then I think we should tell the open space committee that we're going to start looking for uh a group like at Ruckers or rvcc or the votch to see if we can find someone who can do this design and then when we have that we can get the supply list together and bring it to them with the actual cost and Tara is this something we could um um also like I don't know if Dr abrupta is that um the rers professor um like as far as like someone like someone like him to kind of like look at the space and like think okay you know why isn't this being maintained is there a problem in how the layout like it can DPW not get to clear that vegetation is there something that we need to change structurally to like allow it to be maintained properly I'm thinking about like the vegetation you know on the between the building and the pond yeah yeah so um so Dr brta doesn't do that kind of work but there are people at Ruckers that we can absolutely talk to he can probably recommend someone I bet uh in the past I have talked to DPW about the vegetation in the pond like cutting it down or making it so that it's not in between and the response I had gotten from them a while back was that it requires a specific type of landscape to do that work they don't have the Manpower or the equipment to do the work in the pond but they do have definitely the ability to do the work around the pond like around the fence and the uh railings and things like that I'm sure that they do so maybe that's the next first step is kind of take Michael's work and turn it into almost like a to-do list for DPW of things that they can do right now while we also try to find a partnership with some other you know group to do the design of it right and that area in front in between the Blind and the pond which is the one of the big problem areas that has to be maintained consistently and shuck used to do a lot of that himself so he do it DPW could do it and it's just you know getting it into the work order and and having someone have time to do it you know it's just you know it's a Time toing thing and I'm wondering if you know once again looking at this old picture this kind of like before picture like is the kind of thing where do we need to put a gate in there like for DPW to easily access right in front of the you know the bird blind is that you know I'm wondering if it could be something if we could find out from DPW why they're saying it's not they don't have the equipment or you know is there something that we could change that would make it so it would be easier for them to do easier to clean out yeah yeah and I think getting back to like this where all that vegetation on the side of the fence is just gone and I don't is there is there a bench there anymore or no I didn't see it this is this a r there so I had NOA think so yeah yeah so like let's get a bench back there you know I mean let's get a let's clear that out let's get a bench there and um and then I'm like thinking I love the idea of getting some different people to help you know do some designs um and then like the thought of kind of like morphing together like some of the fence versions with some of like the house versions um is neat yeah if you go to that before picture it looks like they started off with just the fence and then they added on the other uh portion on the right after that's my guess I could be wrong did a fantastic job of putting this together and you know really tells a lot of the story I think what what I recommend you you may want to add is like with the with the wood like is are there any safety concerns like is the wood splintering like what are there any like Rusty Nails poking out or anything like could you know hurt anybody um so you know that might be something you might want to think about adding but um before the presentation goes up to open space I would identify uh you know any um grants that might already be aail similar to what we did with sustainable Jersey you there funding opportunity like that that you can promote with this because a lot of times folks like to see where they can find money uh or uh find funding for for projects like this but I think it's great I think you're going to be a wonderful homeowner someday since you know that controlling water is a big part of owning a home and maintaining it is you're right you're so right about that I'm like I'm wondering and wouldn't it make more sense for like yeah to have that roof pitched into the pond right that's like that's all I can see is that that's just pitch the wrong way yeah yeah oh wow Michael thank you so much this is just really it's so funny because we go there all the time I've done a lot of Google searches around this but I feel like your presentation was just so thorough and um a nice combination of the reality of uh this Trail and this B this bird blind and then the other options out there thank you for doing all this work of course and for all the help throughout the the spring and and late winter thanks for being with us he did he did a lot of work I I was gonna say one of the things in your PowerPoint presentation are the photo photos that everyone's seen except for me in the PowerPoint yes y yep oh God all right CU I'm going okay and I texted them to you too so as soon as your phone your internet works or whatever you should get all them I just texted them to you throughout the presentation I you know some of them are opening but it they opened one of them opened after the presentation I mean this is just like so slow I know I'll send I'll send the presentation around all right thank you m i was GNA say go ahead excuse me I was gonna say um I think one of the first questions from o sack will going to be well do you want to replace or you want to repair and then maybe have proposals for both and just my two cents again it's not my money but probably through taxes it probably is some of my money but if you're gonna replace again go with this uh TX decking and things like that I think uh you know I sent you a long time ago uh pictures of a bird blind and Kate May we've been here for decade and it looks like the same thing we also have final fencing in our backyard and we've had it for 30 years and it looks like the day it was installed so again if you're looking for something maintenance free that would be the way to go yes it's expensive but it you know you can have any color you don't have to uh paint you don't have to coat and uh it'll last pretty much forever so they have like 50y year warranties on this stuff yeah that's very very true I was about to suggest about the TRS material because I know it is expensive and other benefit is like uh it would not get Infested by mold or any P anything wood is more chances or easily get Infested by any past or mold always attack on wood but tracks there won't be a problem might be one and done you know once it's once it's up it's done yeah no maintenance it won't be right with the on the trail because it's all natural but yeah something think about yeah I mean I I I kind of have a it's true what you are saying well this all has to get sorted out in the design I mean this is like this is detail level right we we still have to figure out what a design is going to be and then what materials would go into it and and all that so that's like I said I think we have to think of two options repair or replace you know so well I don't think we can go to I don't think we can go to the open space committee without some sort of a plan right like show up and and say hey I feel like doing this right we have to we have to have some sort of a plan some sort of a design and and it should and there should be options right this is what it would be to replace this is what it be to be or or we decide on what we are gonna you know submit right so but that's that would be those options more options that they can think about you know because again there'd be a a big cost difference from replacing versus repairing yep yeah yep we have to prepare you know our justifications advantages disadvantages why we would do this ideally find like some sort of matching money maybe a grant out there that'll that'll pay a little bit of you know if the open space puts puts up some money so there's a whole bunch of but that's all you know we got to we got to do all that work I suppose right yeah so and I know one I had reached out to um uh my sister's friend who uh is a naturalist and was the Environmental Education Center in Basking Ridge the Great Swamp for many years and she was essentially telling me that um that you know a lot of these are not designed by Architects they're just designed by Trail people you know people work at Trail centers and and you know I'm sure like Jim the one you saw like it probably was heavily influenced you know by the by the naturalists um and she had given me some information like Baseline prices and I I can't Tara I know I shared it with you I looked back at my emails and I can't find it but I I'll look again as well um but that's kind of you know going with the idea of it's like you're doing it yourself you know you're doing it like you know a very small scale but everyone's saying we want to have a plan I like the idea of replace a replace option or repair option we can consider different materials um and uh in doing so and identifying grants also identifying hazards and Tera you also mentioned like a to-do list for DPW as kind of like a baseline you know let's let's see let's get this back to as much functioning as possible and then determine is this the best spot or not is this something you know we want El want to consider any more drastic changes right all right well okay so I think we have our our kind of like ideas for moving like the next steps and uh thank you Michael for putting this together I think it it's really good thank you yep thank you Michael good luck good luck going forward y thank you okay and Tara you know when it comes time I don't know if when we want to present it if Michael's available we can all we can also play this video If he's not right yeah definitely yeah that's a good idea we can definitely do that okay getting back to the agenda moving on to Old business uh the pathways and trails plan okay so I sent around as part of the agenda a summary of the comment that we received for the pathways and trails plan there is not many which is good I'm going to share it on my screen um okay so what I did was I put everything into one uh document to show what the comments were um and this is from the open space advisory committee at this point um so I'm going to run through them real quick uh there's things that I need to disc discuss with you all to see how to move forward and there's things that are basically formatting issues so um for so for example so for the first comment it says maps and text are poorly coordinated need to be properly aligned on the page so basically when people go in and use the document to make track changes it pushes all of the things all over the place so when I went in and did all the formatting to make sure everything lines up as soon as people start entering their comments directly into the document it messes with the formatting so I redo all the formatting at the end of every document anyway so we'll make sure that of course that's addressed before the end of the document before the end of the approval um the maps the colors on the maps are not always explained that is true I went through and looked at the maps there's not a legend on every map and there really should be so we can add that relatively easily that's not a problem uh for dunan Gunther there was um uh a question about the okay let me back up back up the comment says the proposed extension would need a lot more work to connect to the Van Cleave bike trail example is a trail Crossing at six mile run these needs need are understated in the PTP did I not open okay let me show you the um draft language that I put in there so I figured it's easy enough in that situation to put in just something that said you know this would take certain requirements and uh um you know basically putting that in there so that people could see that and it would address that comment now where hold on one second here 56 that would be recently okay I'm sorry give me one second okay 35 I have so many version of this document because I try to keep the old one in case there's you know in case we don't like some of the changes or we do make some so give me one sec what page is that 61 okay 48 and a little more okay uh I think it's right up here okay so the language that I put in here I want to see if you are all okay with it I basically put in the language that's highlighted so um it says now the bike path beginning on the township owned open space connecting the vancle bike path to the existing Red Trail on the state owned sixmile run property the bike lane would move through Township Open Spaces ultimately connecting to sudam Road this proposed connector would require a trail Crossing at sixmile run Parkland which would include extensive coordination with and permitting through the state of New Jersey this process and ultimate completion of the project will require a significant amount of time and funding um so that would address that comment if we want to keep that in so that was just language I drafted I wanted to see what you all thought I wouldn't describe that as understated as the comments said so I think this is good okay yeah I think that's the main concern of that commenter is we don't want to understate what what actually needs so and it's still the intent is the same we haven't changed the proposed extension at all it's just basically putting in that some more work will be needed needed okay the next one is um it says the north south Trail uh not much is mentioned in this iteration of the pathways and trails plan so I'm sorry I'm sorry I didn't I started to talk before I didn't unmute myself um I have a question that that last piece is that piece that we just talked about is that what Mark foron was emailing us about with that path the path along van CLE um and the connector yeah it's Sim it's it's in the same uh yes that's exactly what he was talking about that's not his comment but that does his comment does relate to this okay um okay so okay the north south Trail so the commenter here said that uh there's not much of the north south Trail mentioned in this iteration of the plan um so I go I searched the document it's only mentioned on page 34 and it says it is a main prior priority so my question is should we elaborate on this or just highlight where proposed trails and connectors are part of this overall proposal in the PTP did it get eliminated accidentally no it didn't get eliminated but basically when we started talking about the update a while back um there are portions in the original North South Trail that cannot be done any longer because they've been been developed or because when the roads were redone um I guess it wasn't considered but there's really not a lot of mention of the north south Trail we do keep it in there that we want to connect the North to the South but we don't really have a whole you know but a lot of our proposed connections that we're talking about are part of it so my question is should I add a separate area like right up about the north south Trail or in the the um trails connectors that are part of it should I just like write a sentence in every one of those that basically says you know this is part of the proposed North South Trail initiative I'm gonna defer to Jim on this one Jim like what what are your thoughts I'm confused as well um yeah I know we talked about it and I I do probably have some maps of the proposed North South Trail but I don't see I don't know how how it's G to go anywhere you know what I'm saying I don't know the you know it seems like I don't say piie in the sky but it seems like a a pretty uh adventurous uh proposal that I don't think we'll see the light of day for a long time well that's what we yeah that's what we talked about during this iteration when we went through the old proposals there was a lot of them from the old plan that we cannot do anymore because the property has either been developed or the roads are not any longer conducive to it so I think that's the reason the whole North South Trail isn't highlighted but if there is an area that pertains to a north south Direction I can note that in the plan or we don't have we don't have to address every comment you know if it's not an appropriate you know if it's not appropriate then we just move forward I guess I mean I mean I think that the um the concept of the north TR North South Trail is great right to have having that connector and I think that former uh committee members felt really strongly about it and I love the idea but recognize like you're saying that some of those parts of the puzzle are are um are missing they blocked yeah it came up at open space recently even like talking about that Rails to Trails section I know one of the members was like I you I know it can't happen right now but I don't want to I don't want to drop it like I don't want like you know if if it's a possibility ever we want to keep it on our radar um so I just want to be mindful of that and and and maybe it's more of something about like uh keeping the concept alive of of you know looking to have multiple connections yeah I think that makes sense I agree yeah that that's a good uh description there Vanessa okay so I will if it's part of the old North South Trail I'll put a a line in the description of each concept that says you know this is part of the original North South Trail initiative and I can add a few more sentences that basically explains the concept in the appropriate spot in the document is there something in the document that kind of shows what the north south Trail was uh there's not and the reason why we went over so one of the things we talked about for quite a few meetings was should we show that map because by if we show that map we are going to be showing a few areas that are impossible to actually achieve because the property has been completely developed or blocked so we would need to maybe I mean that's the thing we'd have to go create a new map and it would be a whole new concept it's a different concept at this point could we put in the plan that that's something we want to work on is Rec recognizing that the existing north south plan is not feasible and that we would something we would want to do is to consider you know in our work um uh developing a updated North South or similar plan yeah I like that and Tera for a map can we just include something in the appendix instead of having developing a whole new section on it well we could but the thing is because it's going to be adopted as part of our master plan we really can't put in something that is just it's unachievable um so we could reference the old plan we could reference the 20 the 2008 plan so that people could go look at that but we definitely we can't adopt something into our master plan knowing that so the options that are shown are not possible if that makes sense I we can definitely reference the old plan like when I do this write up I could say as noted in our plan and I can definitely reference it even like by Page yeah uh but let me just read reread the comment um yeah yes I'm suggesting to add to that that that we ALS so look to develop a more realistic north south plan yeah I think that makes sense and we would have to remove this specific item from the main priorities list well we wouldn't remove it from the priorities list we would basically just say there's already a line in there on page 34 that mentions that the north south Trail was a priority um and it still is but it doesn't like give any more info so on that page I could basically say you know it's still a priority one of the goals of the trails committee for the next iteration of the pathways and trails plan is to develop an updated feasible North South Trail concept that takes into consideration um you know the uh the the words like not in my head but basically takes into consideration the feasibility of spec of old plan and the new plan now you just stated it I think it sounds great okay I'll do that I'll write that does that make sense to everybody yeah okay uh and you still there y I'm listening to everything okay great uh the next comment is the damont pathway it says what is needed here is a safe Crossing that is not clear um so on page 39 I went and looked at it my opinion is I think it is pretty clear but I want to before I say to the commenter okay thank you but you know we don't think that's you know we think it is clear this is what it says so it basically says you know that um that uh the development of the bike path to connect to the deont Lane walking path at the northern Terminus uh it would be to provide safe passage across East Avenue and then we go on to say in addition to the connector Franklin would work with the state of New Jersey and Somerset County to implement safety improvements to the crosswalk as well as signage py you know for uh motorists cyclists and pedestrians I think that is pretty clear I don't know if the commenter is basically saying you know there shouldn't even be a connector there I don't think that we should take that out because that's important and we do really get into what the safety improvements would be so I I think in this instance we can not address this comment unless anyone has a um you know has a strong urge to address it is this Crossing at eastn Avenue yes okay there's some kind of meeting about the safety on Eastern Avenue yes yeah that's through the yeah the county is holding that meeting yeah yeah they're redesigning the road yeah so so I think we keep it in and I think it does reference the safety needs yeah I I mean I think I understand where the where the where the um where the commenter is coming from but I think it I don't think you can say that this it's unclear that we're really talking about the because it's more than just the intersection right of course you're clearly talking about the intersection but you're also talking about the 2,000 feet that leads up to it or whatever that is right the half mile that leads up to it so I would agree with you saying that this there's not much we can do to to make this any clear perfect okay the next one is uh for negri naot a loop trail around the bird blond blind is not recommended people in The Blind do not want people walking behind them or near the pond disturbing the birds they are trying to observe so this correlates to page 41 in our plan um and that is where we talk about the improvements at negri nepot so you can see here one of them is the extension of the Blue Trail which is the one that uh leads up to the bird blind and our proposal was to extend that trail so it goes completely around the bird blind so right now you can go in front of the bird blind and you can keep taking yellow but you can't actually go around and that was our suggestion this commenter feels that going all around the bird blind is not uh you know a good idea basically I didn't remember doing that are they talking about going around the pond because there is a trail going around the pond the the uh yeah extension around the pond no but you're saying but you're not saying around the pond Terry you're saying around the blind right around the uh hold on one second let me see the exact wording uh oh wait hold that's the first one which is kind of confusing to me extension of existing Blue Trail which is handicapped accessible to loop around the bird blind yeah maybe you should say to loop around the pond but I think it does loop around the pond already right oh it wasn't originally in the plan I think it isn't that the trail that kind of just happened and we decided to like leave it in it's not an official Trail it's kind of become one there is a there is a trail on both that circles the pond one of them the bird blind is on and then it it faces the other side it is a they put in a trail it's there Tara I'm sorry that picture I'm confused when you share that picture is that trail that you're showing that that line is that going around the blind or the pond it's going around the blind between between the Blind and the pond that little area where the vegetation is growing that we're complaining about um to me what I think the purpose do I think what we were trying to say so it says here we're trying to extend it the hand so that it's handicapped accessible so maybe that's what the confusion is so there is like kind of a pathway there but I don't think it's handicap accessible all the way around and maybe it should be ponded and not blind I think it's supposed to be Pond not blind okay so Pond and doesn't makes sense people in The Blind do not want people walking behind them or near the pond right blind yeah people are going to be walking behind you what part of the purpose of having the fence there there was to protect what you want to see CU you're right if you walk around the pond things are going to fly maybe oh so maybe maybe maybe he doesn't like it around the pond either well I think that's what the commenter here is saying this yeah I think the commenter is basically saying that if people are there to observe birds that a trail should not be near it whether it's blind or pond that's a fair comment yeah so what do you guys think keep it in take it out I mean the other thing we were talking about specifically and this came from when Chuck was here this was one of his comments is that that that area around the blind people cannot they can only get to the ramp they can't actually get around the blind or around the pond I guess I should say because it's not handicapped accessible material right right we've had that conversation that we would have to extend that all the way around it and to tell you the truth right now it's hard enough I'm being honest to M have it maintained adequately to get people from the parking lot down to the blind much less extending it around Pond right I'm listening I'm just plugging my computer in should we should we retract that suggestion then of because essentially we were saying okay this has people using negri have created Ed this path here we'll just formalize it and adopt it and well no but we weren't just saying we were going to formalize it and adopt it the recommendation is that we put down handicapped accessible material on it oh yeah adopt it and make it handicapped accessible right right so is that maybe not a great idea maybe we should should we reconsider that and go back to the original map of that wasn't going around the pond and then we don't have to do the handicap accessible and it's one less thing to maintain and we don't have to worry about that interfering with birding I don't know yeah up to you guys I don't care I'm just putting it out there that's I I think that's the proposal right that's what the commenter is saying that's what the the commenter is saying yeah they think that that portion of the trail should be not extended um and yeah I guess the the thing I need from you guys is do you think we should remove it or do you want to keep keep it in I'm okay with removing it I mean I I think it's in our isn't the oh my goodness the trail around the around the pond already mapped out in our most recent efforts is that correct I I think I remember doing it yeah so it is so if it's there I you know just keep it there cuz otherwise there's no way to get around that trail to hook up with the other trail that heads to the woods right okay guess so awkwardly people in The Blind do not want people walking behind them I mean there that trail has been that's how people get to the blind is walking behind the blind so I'm not sure did it say say behind them or I I interpreted that as not wanting them to be on the other side disturbing the birds when you're looking at them yeah it's not clear you know people in The Blind do not want people walking behind them or near the pond yeah or near the pond yeah yeah I mean they're absolutely right that could disturb the birds but you know I mean it is part of the trail I mean that's that that's kind of like you know a lot of trails blinds next to them Tera can you put the map up for NRI or yeah Mar I don't think the the trail behind the behind the bird blind is the issue it's on the side it's the yellow segment it's there yeah I think maybe that's what they're talking about that I mean we have a trail around the pond it's fine yeah so this is the updated map um yeah right I mean comment is the comment is is you know why do you have that little yellow piece there because that's around the pond that would disturb birds that would disturb the uh people at the blind so then it's just decision whether we want to keep it or get rid of it yeah I mean maybe you want to take a vote on it I'm not sure if that's how you you know to you guys can you just zoom in on that segment um on the map please as far as like mapping purposes I think I mean because it's a clear section it would probably be pretty easy to eliminate right like if they stopped mowing it what nature would take its course right right but I mean as far I as far as like mapping purposes it it won't have to be remapped will it terara like can can't that part just be deleted um yes that that should be able to be deleted I think yes I think it it would be okay and I bet if you delete it there'll be PE Burgers will be saying oh my goodness I can't go around the the pond What's happen on the other side yeah they will I mean I I can hear both of those things because you do see things on the side that you can't see from the blind well I think that you know I think the question here is what is the what is the map uh going to show people are going to go wherever they want to go anyway what is the map going to show and where are the resources going to be put in terms of uh making the path accessible right right and and I think and and I think given given this comment it makes sense to remove it from the official map and uh and and and not invest the resources to make it accessible because the the blind itself remains accessible uh if the public creates a path around the around the pond they're going to create a path around the pond whether we whether we draw the line on the map or not the question is whether we're going to invest the resources to make it accessible and make it an official part of the trail or not right um the comment's not unreasonable um but in in in I guess as far as I'm concerned Amry is the resident bder so I'm gonna say what I'm gonna go with whatever she says I agree she's always there she knows better than any of us I think yeah I'm I support whatever she says but uh but I don't think it's an unreasonable comment and I think you know like I said this is really a question of where are we going to say resources if available get allocated and not like you know it's not like people are going to stop walking around the the pond if they want to walk around the pond right well well I'll tell you if that grass grows up people will not access it because it's just you know it'll be just like walking in the middle of the grass lands now right so that happen it's it's mowed now it looks well last time I was there was M but I the path exists and we've had this discussion before I don't remember yeah we talked about it we talked about it I never though had the perspective that's being shared by the commenter that it could negatively impact bird birding from the blind like that never crossed my mind when we talked about it it was more of like oh it's an existing Trail it's being used let's just adopt it um I mean if birders are the ones that are walking around the the pond I would suggest then saying that birders don't want you to walk around the pound would be counterintuitive right if the birders are actually walking around the pound and but if you're in the blind or someone walks either to the right or to the left and continues up that little Hill or to the right behind they're going to flush out anything that's in the pond anyway yeah well so we so just to be you know we have a lot more comments to go through we can come back to this one if you want but um or we could we could tell me how to it's up to you guys what you think needs further investigation yeah I have an issue I need to drop it around nine o'clock um I didn't I didn't think we wouldd go this long I know I know and it's a very long document and I'm looking at it and I'm like if we have this much conversation we're gonna be till 11 right no stop at nine: we stop at nine okay well so here's the thing if we don't let me go through the comments as quickly as I can and if it's like we need more conversation because I can't give it to our Township planner until we address all the comments right so you know I hate to let it wait another month but if we have to we have to you know right right uh okay it's limit discussion need more investigation okay Simonson Brooke uh there was the change in wording which I made which was basically instead of along the northern border it should have said along the Southern Bank fine that was easy enough so I did that um okay so we'll go to this one we we're going to have to do this in two meetings so you want me to just go through another one then we'll stop yeah let's what we can do go ahead let's keep going until you agenda as well Tara is there anything else that you want to that we need to I'm just think looking at the rest of the agenda um yeah there's nothing else really on the agenda that we need to talk about those are kind of placeholders and there's nothing really to discuss at this point okay um okay so we can five more minutes on this and then and then we can adjourn yeah there's nothing else on there for me to talk about uh okay so we'll do this one uh trepo Road and Martino Drive path connector this concept is problematic for two reasons the first is the sidewalk along trepo Road ends before the brook the now this is good background information the original developer of the development to the north did not extend the sidewalk because it would have required a stream Crossing permit from D the second reasing is that there's a living fence of tightly spaced shrubs in front of the house at the corner of Willow which means that the road is too narrow so I'm going to show you it and you can kind of see what they are talking about and this is like the reason why getting comments are good because this commenter knows a lot of background as to why certain things you know sidewalks weren't connected and things like that um here it is here okay so we're talking about oh sorry I got an itch we're talking about this right here so this is I know it's a little hard to see this is the bike path connector at trepo Road in Martino drive I have to go back and see exactly sidewalk along trepo ends before the brook the original developer of the development to the north did not extend the sidewalk H let me see if we have another map here so we're basically saying the existing bike path from Martino is interrupted at trepo road but by completing the connection bikes can safely progress to deont Lane uh la la la la la the connection would also allow potential to undeveloped Willow Road property so our commenter is basically saying that the uh developer to the north did not complete that connection because it would have required a stream Crossing from D which is very difficult and costly to get um and also the Willow Road property which I think is further down apparently there is uh some shrubs that are tightly spaced together that would basically then they're on private property that would kind of have to be removed in order to make this work just trying to see if I can get a better picture uh here yes the map here's the Willow Road property this is the Willow Road property that uh the commenter is talking about um hold on I have to look exactly where the um the living fence in front of the house on the corner of Willow Road okay uh this is the Willow Road property and the house so they must be talking about which house are they talking about it's got to be one of them over here right cuz this is where oh it's probably right here where this corner is because basically they're saying this like getting this connection over here would be almost impossible because there's a living row of trees and they're kind of like encroaching but isn't that but there is a road there right there is is I said there's the yellow circle so they're mentioning the same spot here yeah yeah yeah is that is that the this is Willow Road this is the Willow Road property um this here is uh hang on this is bike path on Weston Road to Willow Road property so Weston yeah Willow so and this is New Brunswick go ahead yes so I mean like this is a about the trep tow I mean like I don't know I think it's something we have to look into like right because I you know you're say I know it's it's expensive I feel like that when that was all developed t was it was like a dirt road it was nothing I mean now like a heavily used road that maybe it's worth looking into how expensive it would be and maybe you know if it's a safety issue um maybe it won't happen but we it doesn't mean we can't try right and that's the other thing to keep in mind too is when we get comments if there's one that it's like Well we'd like to keep in there the plan is these are Concepts these are recommendations for moving forward these are not set in stone these are things we would love to see happen it's not guaranteed it will happen well I think these are obviously these are really well-informed knowledgeable and so great that we have this um so I would definitely want us to hold on to these you know in our notes as well thank you for sharing them so at the next meeting we'll go through we'll start here on trepo and Martino and we will go through the remainder of the comments which are these okay um um yeah that's big task and we're going to need to do that at the next meeting because in order to get it to the township planner I have to give him obviously what is considered our final draft now he might have comments too but what I give him has to be the fully you know vetted version okay all right Tara thank you um looking at the next thing on our agenda like Tara had mentioned um these are just kind of placeholders so we don't lose track of things we do need to continue our conversation about the green infrastructure at nonan Williams uh the printing of Trail brochures and Maps um and I just mentioned needing them for National Trails day as well um the trail walks and events um oh Terry keep forgetting to move this link out of here and putting it with the update section um hang on this oh you want it underneath you want it underneath the update yeah yeah yeah that's that's that's the link for that right yep okay got it um yeah and the story book hike I told you that's the wrong date it was this past it was May 4th not the 20th yes I put I I meant to change it on here and then I just didn't do it so I'm sorry about that yes so that was the just to have it for you know for for the record um the trail running series um has been going nicely thank you Chris for you know facilitating it um uh I know we're out of time so maybe we can talk a little bit more about it next time yeah the Eco hike is coming up on the 25th then we have National Trails day um any any quick highlights um we want to make sure Terry hears about um that you reported or haven't reported yet in the link for on your Trails um I I want to point out that at the Bunker Hill parking lot there continues to not be a rope that Pro blocks the parking lot from the trail so your cars could just drive right on it's been like that for several months um and so in the past it was just like a chain and the chain there's like there's no sign of a chain okay I will follow up again yeah um and there's some other things as well I I'll put it I'll I'll put it in the report but that's the main one that I wanted to prioritize um and uh for that one got it Al righty all right so at the next meeting if you all um if you can look at those comments and and I put the link to the pathways and trails plan in the email as well if you can kind of look and then this way at the next meeting we can finalize those that would be great okay okay thank you terara um can we have a motion to adjourn the meeting I'll move to adjourn the meeting I'm sorry who was that it was I I don't know if me or Chris got it first I think it was Robert I second all right there we go okay second so Robert moved uh Chris second all in favor I pushing carries meeting adour and everyone thank you so much for all of your work thank you good night everyone