um in accordance with the open public meeting Act of the state of New Jersey adequate notice of the Wednesday March 13 20124 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 it's not via WebEx anymore it's via what what are we on now Microsoft teams Microsoft teams um at 7 pm on March 13th perfect okay so we can go ahead um and move into roll call okay uh Vanessa Jones present and Marie arusi Chris Gonda is not here tonight he let us know uh Jim Kowski here and just to let you know I probably have to leave around 8:15 8:30 okay we don't have a lot on tonight so that might be it might be good I might present um jasha Patel I I know she's here I saw her hi jasha present sorry sorry present okay that's okay um Robert k present and PES La yes pres here okay um and Michael morasco is here he's our intern so I think that's everybody did I miss anyone no okay great um um I'm looking Tara for some reason I can only find the draft agenda for tonight what what was um would you mind res sharing that with me yeah you want me to email to you yeah that' be great sure um I know um the next item um is um we need a motion to approve the uh February uh minutes I move that we theary movements oh wait hang on who who Moved those I'm sorry because I got to write it down too well just Mr detail here I I see that he he said location is Microsoft teams but we were live oh right right okay the and that's pretty much the only thing I saw otherwise they're great good thanks Jim is there somebody in the lobby let me see Debbie Stewart oh yeah I guess okay all right okay thank you all right so with the change to the minutes that says um that we were on Microsoft teams we were on site uh then is everybody good to go with this I'm good um so yeah so um I made a motion we have a motion to um to approve so anarie had made the motion so a second I second um all in favor I all in favor any any abstentions or Nays hearing none uh motion carries um can we have a motion um to move into public comment I move we put move into open comment public comment sorry a second I'll second it Robert thanks Robert okay all in favor hi hi no no n or abstentions um so our our our members of the public um yes would you like to introduce yourself and uh okay let me let me go to first I'll go I think Kathy was here first let me up where is oh there she is hang on one second I got a okay let's see if I can unmute Kathy can you hear us okay all right hang on one second here let me see if I can oh uh I don't want to mute I Want You Toby are you able to turn your mic on all right Kathy if you can hear me I'm going to move to the next person and we'll come back to you while you're try and figure out getting the mic going okay all right so then we have Debbie hold on let me get to you Debbie Stewart Debbie are you there I am here okay you're on yes hi thank you I'm Debbie Stewart I live in Canal Walk I am a hiker and I love the Franklin Township trails that I do um I have some issues with some of them but I'm not going there tonight I just want to sit in listen to what you all are doing I love the John Clyde area and I appreciate everything you all do whatever you know I know it's a difficult task anybody that's doing anything volunteer and I assume you're all volunteer besides Tara because I see her at other meetings at the environmental so anyway just want to say hi and um thank you for opening this up to all of us thank you thank you thanks for thanks for joining us at our meeting and thank you for getting out there and enjoying our Trails uh we really appreciate that um so we're loved to hear from people in the community and uh ideas and suggestions are also welcome thank you hi okay Kathy just wrote in and said that her mic is not working but that she loves the trails too and that she just is observing great Kathy if you want to say anything during the other you know you have any questions just type them in okay um Kathy thank you so much for joining us as well um hopefully you'll come back again and uh and contribute more lots of opportunities for different walks that we do and and volunteering if you're interested in that too so uh stay tuned okay um any other public comments okay um we have a motion to close public comment I move with close public comment have a second second jha thanks all in favor hi hi hearing no Nays or extensions um we can move on to a site plan review so Vanessa before we move on um maybe Peres would you could perves introduce himself to everyone you you briefly joined us a couple meetings ago you did and so so sorry so we're really excited um we're so excited that you were appointed by Town Council to formally join us um so for those of us who might not have been here the last time you came uhia please introduce yourself for all of us sure yes thank you thank you for having me here and I'm really excited to contribute uh to the committee I um if you look at my background I can I used to be u a tropical flower farmer actually I used to grow under greenhouse and um I was growing Tropics uh more for flowers and for selling the plants as well and the more I got to know about New Jersey and my own Township I found out that uh probably looking at the um the native plants and uh the native plants growing in areas where people can see them uh and the best way to do that is through hikes and the township provides a great place uh for doing this so I'm interested in seeing if I can marry my interest into what the trail committee is doing here and do the best I can to uh get more more people onto these uh trails that sounds great thank you thanks um you know as as a new member of the committee you do have the opportunity you you you get to adopt a trail in town so we can we can talk about that too uh we'll share the different Trails we have and and what's available or we can negotiate um uh sometimes we trade trails and uh yeah that's something wonderful and if you're ever you know looking to kind of um meet up on a hike just just let us let us know too happy to go out absolutely it it would be great uh like you know it would be fun to know uh when and where people are from the committee are uh you know when they are visiting these uh these trails and I can meet up and we can talk about different things that they do uh while uh their uh uh contri to to the work here and their own enjoyment as well sounds good sounds good okay um site plan review so no site plan review for this uh for this month um we are getting I think I mentioned at the last meeting we have a new way of reviewing site plans with the planning board so the planning board is requesting a lot less paper copies um so we're basically really doing digital submissions which is great and the good news is is that every week I get an email from the planning board and they tell me now what is due and what has to be reviewed what's coming up on the agenda so the most recent is that we don't have anything to review for this month okay thank you um moving on um to new business uh updating and finalizing the the vision and projects for 2024 that we had worked on the um last month okay um I resent it around I know last month we talked about maybe prioritizing some of the items let me share my screen um and so I just rehar it with kind of what it looked like we were thinking about prioritizing which I know was a lot and I I think Vanessa wanted to kind of just see if we could hone in on it anymore or if there's any more changes to make so can everybody see it on the screen yep so the first one is the green infrastructure actually PES this is like a great meeting for you to be at because it's kind of listing some of the pro most of the projects we have ongoing and what we're looking to do so um the green infrastructure Grant is a $20,000 Grant from sustainable Jersey we are in the midst of that um that is a priority project because we have to finish it um it's an 18 month project I believe we supposed to be done in September I just submitted the uh interim report last week when it was due so I submitted our um pictures and uh the project the um I'm sorry the presentation that we put together to show what our green infrastructure Concepts were so I sent that all in um the next steps for that is that I am trying every day to get a meeting with DPW so that we can put the supplies and materials list together to start putting the trench in so um I am going to uh tomorrow morning reach out to the township manager to get that meeting set up and then we can actually go out I basically what I want to do is have DPW say okay we think you need this much Stone this much mesh you know whatever it is so that we can actually order it and then we have volunteers npw who can actually start implementing the projects and then we're done with that okay so that's that anyone have any questions on that one um I just have a question what are what's their next Focus going to be because I was just out there a couple weekends ago so I feel like I'm so the priority projects are we have three priorities the main priority area is the one that is kind of got by the playground towards Matilda Avenue so that's like when you pull up on Matilda and you probably saw the pictures of the biggest problem area by the playground and that low-lying area by the woodlands so we want to put the the little trench on the side of the um of the pathway um I think there was some areas where we want to plant some trees there so that's going to be our Focus so we have we have $20,000 so uh we're going to you know use as much of that money as possible for the green infrastructure but I would like to get DPW out there because they have a good sense of exactly what we need to do to make the concept you know be you know able to be implemented and what we need sure the the trench I mean I don't I hope that my photographs that I sent included that I'm not sure yes it did y so the trench would be on if you're walking towards the community garden and you're walking way from Matilda Avenue the trench would be on the left or the right hand side of the trail it would be on the right hand side if you're walking toward Matilda AVS at your back and you're walking towards the community garden it would be on your right hand side okay yeah I mean when I was there after that rain the kids were like in the water I know yeah I mean so DPW so far has put in the under drain that we had recommended which is great um and so that did did make some improvements based on the pictures you sent anarie um but yeah I think adding in our priorities will really kind of help move that along yeah so I'm just gonna so this is Priority One can you guys all see this on the screen yes so this is Tera Tara can I interrupt you for one second I just realized that Chris is not here and Chris is our secretary I'm taking notes that's what I've been doing you're okay with that yeah that's why I'm like a little lagging okay I'm sorry thank you so much Tera I just realized I miss that I didn't want to go further without assigning that okay that's okay yeah I told him I would take the notes so no big deal um this is the first priority area so this is the Matilda Avenue parking lot at non Williams Park and this is the playgrounds the two playgrounds and here's the Gazebo for reference DPW put this under drain in already um this is the trench so on both sides of the path we're looking now this side here which is if you know and I told you it's on the right side anarie it's if you're walking from here down to here but if we can get both trenches in that would be optimal this area is look is looking where is where we're looking to put more trees in and then this area over here you know we would love to have porous pavement but that's just way out of our budget for right now plus DPW already paved it so we're not going to rip it up and put porous in um this area we're looking at maybe doing doing a biofiltration wetland like a Vernal Pond but we have had some comments that people are concerned about mosquitoes so we might just leave that right now and focus on the trees and the regrading and the trench so that's the first priority we're going to do with money and then priority two is the other playground over here which is closer to this is Mark over here um these are there's tow houses back here and this is the other playground the baseball field are up here this area we're looking to do trees now the tree money I'm thinking we can probably use money from the shade tree fund um if the shade tree commission approves it because they have a good amount of money in their fund so if we can get the trees paid out of there we'll have more money to do you know the trenching and the um the you know rain Gardens and things like that okay so and then oh go ahead I'm sorry no you're go ahead go I'm sorry I didn't interrupt go go ahead with the whole thing then the last priority if we have money left over is this is the baseball diamond again this is Mark Street here so what we're looking to do is some simple regrading and routing um this Fitness area has been raised but I don't think the new fitness equipment is there in this one yet it might be it might have moved down a little if I remember correctly um but this area is also call calling from some for some soil excavation and replacing it with stone or gravel because this is where it gets really muddy down here okay so that's the priorities in order of what we're looking to do MoneyWise so Tera do we know what trees are we planting here what is the plant which trees which species of the trees going to be planted here so I don't know the exact species yet the shade tree commission though does have a whole list of um plant of trees that they send to develop when developers have to replace trees so we can use their list as a starting point it's all native trees and from there we can choose trees that are specifically good for um storm water management right so that's what and also at the same time like if they are with the larger Kopi they can provide a shelter for the birds also yes and the fruit trees if fruit trees can provide fruit and shelter both to birds and some other animals also absolutely be beneficial for ecosystem yep for sure Tara just a quick question by the playground there's looks like a bar across the trail what is that what they've already installed um let me go oh right here this no not that right going further up to Matilda there's right that that what's that so this we were hoping to have another underd drain there because there is an existing um uh man I want to say manhole but why can't I think of the name of this right now like the dra like the big dra yes there's an existing drain over this way so when we met with Ruckers they had said you know it' be great to have an under drain here as well however that did not get put in and the paving is now done so that was a hope but you know it didn't make it but this one did get put in and from your pictures we can see there's already been an improvement so that's good all right just uh thing that that playground is what was had a lot of water on it and so that's a shame that that we didn't get a chance to remediate that all right yeah yep all right they went too fast yep yep just quick question the photo I had had a picture of a trench and and two orange cones on either side is that that trench in this picture yes that goes right lies underneath the trail yes yep it is y okay because you can see how that's bubbling up on both sides okay yeah um and Tara do you know like what the plan is because like right now it's just like that stagnant water um I know at one point we had talked about connecting that pipe to one of the bigger drains um I'm just curious do you have any idea about that or not yet not yet but I believe that their thought if I can get tbw out there I can get an answer for you for sure but I think their thought is that they're going to lead that into where the Culver is in the wooded area Okay so while we're on this since anarie went out today and took some pictures and I just I'll share them with you now um so this is where you can kind of see the drain underground right here so it's still ponding but prior to this drain being here the water was completely on the path and we just had a lot of rain so this is a great time here um originally there was a lot of water here and it would spill over here so the drain already is kind of taken care of it now we need to drain this area into where it's supposed to go so once that's connected I think it'll you know will be better off um this is a view so the tow houses are behind us so this is basically the back andry's back in this picture is to Matilda AV so that she's facing the community garden um and this area is notoriously wet and has been almost every time we've gone there this is a fitness station um was is this the new one anmie this looks like the new one this is the one yeah going down the path heading towards the community garden right okay so this one I think they've actually replaced but you can see it still has some water there so that's going to need to be dealt with um this is one of the existing drains that we were talking about um this is not one that we were thinking of connecting to but there are drains like this all over NE Williams Park they're just no longer really connected to anything and it's very dry there yes and some of that we some of that we learned was because there used to be a road yes that went through that area they left the drains from where they were in the road but then the park was built in that area right this is another picture of the drain uh the cones are still there so DPW is obviously looking to do something this is the playground and again you can see there's a lot of water here which is the typical problem although it does seem to be less um this is the water and it's leading up to the this is the woodlands area where we're looking to plant some more trees uh this is a Long View here you can see the Gazebo is here um this area did this used to be a fitness station I think this used to be the fitness station that was always submerged it looks like it's been removed which was our recommendation which is great because there's no reason to have one there yeah it's just too wet this is a bench on the playground you can see there's still water around that so we're going to need to figure something out we do have plans there for uh green infrastructure so so B so thank you Emory for taking these pictures these are really helpful um we have the plan oh go ahead those were taken on a Sunday remember we had that big um all day Saturday I know we've had a few all day Saturday rains but it was really Furious all day Saturday and to see all that dried up just within the you know the next day was really remarkable yeah it's getting better for sure so yeah so that project's ongoing we'll get a meeting with DPW we'll get the supplies and materials list and hopefully we can get the projects implemented in the spring and summer um the next project is the pathways and trails plan so again that's done the open space advisory committee will be giving us their final comments and then we will get all of that to Mark Healey our Township planner so that it can be adopted into the township master plan so that's done uh site plan review is something we do every month and that's Ong going uh the GPS Trails mapping so this is complete now I mean this is kind of something that is going to be on going as Trails change or new trails come in but the major update that we did is done um and we've used those to create the new maps uh the conversion of Trail markers to paint blazes this is in progress we try to do these as often as we can it is difficult to get out there it does take some time but we do have the supplies and this we're just going to keep doing until we finish it um the hosting of trails hikes and nature walks we have is ongoing and the prioritize it's prioritized um this here I can remove cuz we added National Trails day um and so basically this says that you know we're looking to do different types of educational events and Hikes and partnering with other organizations to bring people to our Trails uh National Trails day we are working on every year it's the first Saturday of June so this year it's June 1 so anarie um sorry so uh Taran what of the re I want to kind of like I know we went over this last time but I know we had talked about some things addition I kind of wanted to maybe like focus on like what was added or not but I'm wondering like I noticed um uh for um number the hosting of trails we'd also talked about and and public events I know that had come up in our conversation so I don't know if we can add that in now um because I know I think it was brought up how you know the different public events like um Fourth of July and things like that oh yes should I add it to this oh no the public events okay let me see if I add in my notes I have it as part of I numbered them and so to me that's number six the hosting of trail hikes okay got it you it in there yeah my notes I have it there plus public events okay and I also so in the GPS Trail mapping and um I have in my notes the bikeways and trails mapping um NJ Trail Action Network I don't know who mentioned that or suggested that but I just um I don't know if we wanted to the the bike way and trails mapping is something else that I somebody had suggested I think so that's one of the things that I had a question I think it was suggested but I didn't know if we wanted to get it on this because we have so many projects on here and if I don't know something we'll be able to get to unless everyone really wants to do it then we can add it in but I you know something might have to come off yeah all right that's fine um July 4th Franklin Day Festival I'll just keep and I'll I'll clean this up later okay so add the public events in um is there anything else that anyone wanted to talk about I mean we have a lot of things on here as it is oh wait here's the bikes and trails Pathways mapping this is proposed creation so basically as you can see and I sent it out before we have a lot of information on here um did anyone have anything that they wanted to take off off do you want to leave it on here just so we have um you know if we're able to work on something we can like what's the you know do you want to shorten it I guess what's the final thought on that so okay so the um can you go back down to the ones that you added after our last meeting uh I think it was these these three the bikes Trails Pathways the trails of Memorial 4 and the create create a directory of organizations okay I mean we can keep these all on these are nothing is binding it's not like if we don't finish something it's you know not it's not good for us I mean we can keep these all on as like an ongoing project list or if we want we can really say this is what we really want to focus on in 2024 so it's mhm really I mean we could also make it a 2024 2025 list um you know so what are we thinking so I guess you know we could PR we could prioritize them um what what what are people thinking it certainly is um there's a lot there um I don't would I would take off at this point yeah that's how I feel too maybe it's better we leave it on and we can you know address each project as like time permits and money permits you know maybe we just kind of keep them on and go through you know as we can yeah I mean I think we we we sort I mean we sort of put them in order of priority a little bit you know last time right so you know it's it's prioritized and it's it's our list of you know our wish list of things to do right so I wouldn't take anything off sure okay all right okay I just have a little little aside about these uh trail hikes I don't know did anyone get an email that there's a uh this this Saturday is the Woodcock dance uh oh I saw that yeah thing uh that's this Saturday that's what is it Kristen Paula Williams they're sponsoring that at NRE yes so the open space advisory committee we uh partner with New Jersey aabon to host those birding and Butterfly walks for us they do six for the town a year okay is that this Saturday Jim yeah it's the 16th that's a Saturday yeah 7 to 9 p.m. okay which trailer is on negri nepot oh negri neot okay they I think they do they always do negri they do for the birds and butterflies the Autobon always goes to negri and and um and Tara that sign up is through Autobon um so basically the way it works and I don't know why this has apparently been how it worked before I even came is that Autobon runs it we pay for them to run it but the registration goes through through us so if anyone wants to register you basically just send me an email and say I'd like to register um but they do allow there's no no limit on people you know as many people that want to go can go and how are we advertising it uh it gets advertised on our social media on our website and Autobon also advertises it on their on their calendar yeah I saw it on the calendar and people get direct uh emails that's what I got I got the email from the town so I guess if you sign up you know you can sign up for so many things that the town will automatically email you and that's what I got I guess I'm on that list of something awesome I think it' be good for us to like include them um on our list too Tara if we could you know just to kind of keep so first as we're thinking about hikes we want to do in locations like just keeping in mind when when those um Autobon hikes are and then that'll help us balance things out okay perfect uh I have them on here and Butterfly walks I'll just add partnership with NJ a bun okay um before we go any further I haven't but has anyone been in contact with chuck would he be interested in doing the 55 plus um I spoke to Chuck on on T yesterday oh I I actually SP to on this week I SP him this weekend and then and then again yesterday um so he said you know he said that he would be do willing to do a a f hike but I don't think he's has the time to do like a series but I think we could get him we could get him on the calendar to do you know one or two okay because he was so knowledgeable and I think that's what people are really looking for also yeah and I think that you know we're lucky that jasha you know has you know a similar uh you know knowledge set and it sounds like um it sounds like P PES you do you do as well so we're going to use those brains put them to work yeah sure so I think now um the way it is I just retitled it to 2024 and Beyond and I think I agree if everyone agrees I think we just leave it as it is because it really I think serves as kind of like a work plan for us and it'll kind of help guide how we do things moving forward so if this is finalized doesn't go anywhere besides you know our our eyes but I think it's good to kind of keep us focused so if we're all good with this then I'll take the draft marker off and we'll just keep it and we can refer to it you know whenever we want great Tara can we maybe maybe we can kind of put on our on our on the back of our minds like like a halfway through do you know what I mean like maybe like after like halfway through the year we can like pause and reflect on what we've accomplished so far and then um great I like it that's a good idea yep okay so that's finally so we have that if any I'll send it around again if anyone wants to look at it any time during our our meetings or anything like that or you know we can absolutely do it great okay um our next item is the memorial plaque for Melba okay so I got the approval and I have the purchase order to order the memorial plaque for Melba baton that we're going to put at negri neot it's a 10 by10 bronze casted plaque that is going to be a fixed to a like a large rock or Boulder basically um so basically all I need is the language to put on the on the plaque itself um I thought maybe keeping it simple would be good so one idea I had and it doesn't have to be this but I have lifelong friend and Steward of open space in Franklin Township so that's like basically you know her name and that very you know simple um I could also reach out you know she has a son that lives nearby could reach out to him and see if he has any language he'd like to see I mean we only have maybe three or four lines and I'd like to have the letters be as big as possible so I don't want to put too much on there right but we do have the approval so oh that's great and and I just just running it by her son would be a nice touch okay got it you can do like an edit he want look us over let us know know that it's okay right I like that wording that's nice yeah I think it's just because it really speaks to her oh and I also asked they also have a Graphic of like a butterfly or a bird that they can put on there so if we don't use up all of our text lines they could put something like that on there which might look nice as well that would look nice okay so I'll reach out to her son and say Here's what we're thinking what do you think and if he likes it or if he has something specific he wants on there we can do that okay and then the um the the rock is going to come from Trap Rock okay yeah so we'll get that okay DPW can actually once we have the plaque they can affix it right to the rock where are we going to place the rock um so I was thinking we could either place it somewhere near the entrance or maybe it might be nice to place it kind of where the trails all meet up right by the bird blind I was thinking maybe somewhere around there because she really loved that bird blind um but wherever anyone thinks is best you know I'll tell you we need to fix a bird blind before we put a rock there yeah that is on yeah or a commitment to do it because if you it's it's so shabby looking and I mixed feelings about putting it there right now maybe it would look better we could put it right at the entrance you know we want to do that we could put it right at the entrance you're thinking about um at the top of the trail past the kiosk yes but maybe and Marie maybe we go for a hike and like look and see if there's a spot maybe not next to the bird blind but in that area that would be would be nice where if you renovated the bird blind it wouldn't be in the way but it would still like an if she liked that spot right and it's just I don't know what equipment we need because another place would be right before the trail converges put a rock there that'd be really nice but if we have to renovate it um and have any kind of equipment there we can't really put a rock right there so um yeah let's do it let's let's take a look at that okay yeah I mean so basically once I order the once we finalize the language and I order it you it'll take time to get it done and then The Rock has to be delivered so we have a little bit of time to find a place but I I would say probably once the rock is put down in order to get it moved would probably be a feat so yeah I think it's good to try and find a place and just when you're there if you see anything it's you know Mela really really loved that place and she loved like bird watching that was her favorite thing to do at negri so you know we can just keep that in mind so if we have room putting a little bird on that um a bluebird of happiness because there's lot bir there that would be lovely yeah yep I like it our next item is our boy scout projects okay um so the first one is I got an email request actually to the environmental commission and uh a Boy Scout had asked if they could do a cleanup at one of our Trails um they needed to do three service hours and there was two Boy Scouts Omar and Arjun and so I asked them where are you closest to cuz they're they're young kids you know so I asked them where are you closest to they said they were right by middle Bush Park and they'd love to go there so I asked them to fill out the forms which they did and they did go there um and they collected two large bags of trash um yeah and they sent some pictures so here's the picture they sent that's one of their bags another bag and their's in the garbage can so nice nice they asked me to write you know a confirmation letter that they serve their hours which I did um and they were just great kids I mean literally they emailed me and by the end of the week they were done with their cleanup so so we appreciate them and I put that in the letter that we really appreciate their service so you know that every little bit helps that's for sure for sure sure great um the other Boy Scout project I just have to get it up here uh oh let's see this one is okay well while I'm looking for it I can talk about it at least um uh one of there was a Boy Scout a while back that was working with Chuck Martin uh his name is Stephen Holzer and he is looking to do some cleanup at the John Clyde memorial trail at the John Clyde preserve uh he wants to do some of the paint blazes for us he wants to clean up some of the trails he's going to cut back some vegetation I don't know why I can't find this email right now um but anyway so he now got approval from the Boy Scouts this was a while back maybe this was in 2022 um it probably was okay I'll find the information better but he got the approval he right now just needs a sign off on the approval so I'm going to meet him tomorrow uh to sign off so he can begin his work and when he's done with his work he'll come and make a presentation to us but he worked closely with Chuck Martin to really you know figure out exactly what he should be doing so uh that's another great project I think that's going to really be helpful nice yeah did my student reach out to you Conrad Abby the high school student he also scout he did so I wrote back to him to set up you know I gave him some ideas for projects and so he was going to kind of like talk with his parents and see what timing works for him in what place and then he was going to get back to me so yes we have a lot of people working on a lot of things which is great good great um so that wraps up new business I'm moving on to Old business uh Pathways and trails plan so you know open space advisory committee is still reviewing and putting their comments together and like I said after their comments are together so far there has been none they've looked at it and they I've really gotten nothing back which is good um once they give me the AOK to move forward we will um send it to Mary the township planner because he has to give it a final once over and then according to Municipal land use law we have to have two public hearings to present the plan to the public and get comment and once that's done it can be adopted as part of the township uh master plan we're getting so close yep we are in good shape all right moving on to our next item the micro Mobility study so the micro Mobility study that is another one I got the approval for um the consultant that we're going with is nv5 they're a traffic consultant and um and an engineering firm um they have experience they've actually worked on micro Mobility projects in Somerset County in the past so they're familiar with the project um I did go through all the steps I have to do to get the purchase order going I did at the last minute have to have a final meeting with our purchasing agent because she wanted to just you know clear some things up from the purchasing end which I did last week so that purchase order is in process I did reach out to the consultant and let them know that you know that who we chose to work with us and so once they have the purchase order in their hand they're going to set up a kickoff meeting and um whoever from the this committee wants to go it'll be virtual probably um is more than welcome and we can talk about you know how to get the project started so I just want to recall this this uh micr Mobility vehicles are these for a Pathways or forever trails that is for so we got a grant to do the community energy plan plan through the environmental commission and instead of using it to write the um plan because I'm writing it uh we can use it for another project which was a micro mobility and specifically what they're going to be looking at is connecting our trails to existing roads existing Transit stops um existing Pathways so I um you know nv5 had something in in their thoughts which was the Hamilton Street corridor uh but there's other corridors we can look at like deont Lane is a corridor that connects municipal buildings and Roads um JFK is one so during the kickoff meeting that's when we'll get the opportunity to kind of figure out what is their thinking and if if we agree with it or if we really want to think about a different approach but micromobility is really connecting people at that last mile so getting from the bus to the township building or your job um or is there ways to get to these places without using your car but you know there's bike racks there or you know electric scooters there something like that thank you D I know Tera in one of our in one of our conversations it might not be feasible but we also talked about um maybe even uh a a pathway kind of connecting from Franken Boulevard to JFK to deont like you know a route kind of going through there um so when we get to that point I think it' be nice to get the that um the company's uh input on that absolutely and we can show that to them and they might say oh yes this is a much better place or they might say well you know we think this is better and here's why the whole project is being covered by that $10,000 crant so you know starting with one quarter might be how we have to start but we might be able to build upon that moving forward you know so but yeah the kick KCK off meeting will be a great time so that they understand what we're looking for and we understand what their approach is when you say Corridor um what do you mean exactly so really like a main roadway that connects other smaller roadways or important places in the township so deont Lane JFK Hamilton those are larger quds that really run in like a across town or across Corridor Way and connects major stops or Transit uhhuh okay so you know bus stops things like that oh okay I guess I have it stuck in my head when you were talking about access to the municipal building and like finding that access from the Hamilton Franklin Boulevard side of town to that part but okay great thank you and that that could definitely be it that might be it as well you know mv5 they might propose something that they think from looking at M but that's why they hold this kickoff meeting to kind of see are they along the right way and you know cuz the people that live here know better so is there a better connection to be made and at this point there's there's not a date for the meeting yet correct no not yet and you know once they have the purchase order they will schedule the meeting okay all right uh green infrastructure and Tra development in name Williams I think we already did that inform formally yep and I'll let everyone know when I have the meeting with DP W if anyone's interested in coming thanks um great uh printing of the trail brochures and maps and we talked about that last time is there an update uh so Michael our intern has been working on just fine-tuning those maps and brochures to get everything nice and ready uh I also did get the approval from the town to have the maps printed by the county print shop for what we talked about last time the total of it was $85 88 cents and it's to print 250 copies of each map that we have so each area so I have the approval I have the purchase order I sent it to the uh County print shop so I'm just going over the final brochures to make sure they're good to go and then we can order them great Tera um the I I know that um at the Franklin Park National area um you had posted like the the new map of of that trail there now is that something that um that you printed or that was printed by um at our GIS person and the IT department so he printed that map and put the QR code and I just went out and posted it in okay great and I was just had um a suggestion that I think it looks nice um if we could put like the name on it like if there's a way to add like you know Franklin Park Natural Area um okay to have it on there I know that the QR code was on there that takes you to the um the township website um where the whether the older the white the other trail maps are are linked there yes um but I just think it' be nice to also have just the name of the trail because I'm thinking because if people are taking a picture of of of the map it'd be cool to have the name on there so they'll remember it got it perfect and it wasn't in the legend I could have swore it was in The Legend not the legend the title block at the bottom of the map no oh let me check it might have been I might have missed not it might not have been too so I'm just wondering um but if if you didn't see it though that means that it wasn't very apparent yes yeah if it was there it was um it was on the on the smaller side let me see [Music] um oh yeah it is you know what it is yeah it is there it's it's on the bottom right it's on the bottom of the measurement tool yeah the he put it in the title block instead of putting like a title on top so if you think it looks better on top we can do that I think that maybe just in bold or maybe just in bold yeah okay yeah I didn't well that that I just missed it I just missed it that's okay all right perfect yeah I think Boulder that would be good yeah we can do that um trail walks and events okay um I'm just writing something down here in the minutes add updated maps to website okay um okay now I forgot where we were at we are on oh Trail BLS yes so the first one to show you all I talked to Chris about this flyer today he approved it um can you all see this I can't remember if I'm sharing still or not you are sharing yep so this is the flyer um it's been renamed trail run 101 social run series which I think is really good um and basically it's going to be Monday evenings at 6:30 from April 22nd through May 20th at the John cide Memorial native grassland preserve uh we're asking everyone to meet at the kiosk I reached out to Recreation today to ask them to please put it on the recck desk so as soon as I hear back from them that it's on wesk I will uh send it to it so they can post it on our website and so that we can put it on social media I did ask that um they put a limit of 20 people on each run at this point because of the very limited parking we have at John Clyde Memorial native grasslands preserve so for right now I don't even know if we'll get one people but that's what I ask them to put a limit on in terms of registration if it gets to that point and then we notice oh you know what we actually can take a lot more than we can always increase it nice so that's all said and done Chris is definitely on board for doing them every Monday that's listed so we're good with that with that event so uh TOA I also uh I will be organizing one hike on the 25th May 25th okay and that's can we um what do you think I don't know can we add this Eco hike into the Chris uh flyer or we can prepare the separate flyer and yeah begin CA we can have separate yeah and we can start even circulating also once you approve Maybe by from April or end of uh March Okay so that Eco hike it's going to be on May 25th and where is it going to be at John Clyde grin at John Clyde actually it's on the agenda Tara you already have it on the agenda oh do I have it further down or yeah it's right under the trail you have trail running series earthday hike storybook hike and then Eco hike I shared that with you at 10: a. okay sorry I little early at 10: a.m. no you're okay at 10: a.m. so I'll make a separate flyer for that and then I'll share it with you jasha and then if you have any comments or edits we can do that and then same thing we'll get it put on Rec desk for registration we'll get it posted can we send it out to all schools around public schools and uh private or charter schools in Township so in order for us to send can send it out to all parents all parents we can do that the only thing is is that we absolutely can do that but in order to send something to any schools we need approval from the Board of Education so I can send it to the board of education for sure to get their approval um it just might take a little bit longer so as soon as we have that done I can do that and then they'll be able to send it out okay okay so that's that one and then Vanessa let me get back to my agenda here Trails running we talked about Earth Day hike so I guess let's talk about that then so that was we talked about that last time right with on uh on April um doing it on the April 21st and you said that Emily was available to help with that one I have not heard back from her yet about a time or anything like that but I'll follow up with her because we'll have to do a a separate posting for that follow up with Emily so I'll follow up with her and that would be at Bunker Hill that's going to be I'm trying to think now I'm getting these confused that's G to be at the Bunker Hill is that at Bunker Hill Natural Area or Environmental Center um I think it's at the Environmental Center Trails I I think I I think it could be either I think that um last time you we talked about the Bunker Hill Natural Area because oh wait a minute wait a minute no no no Bunker Hill Bunker Hill um Natural Area is where the um we all talked about for um National tril which we are yeah I think we're doing that one at the Environmental Center because she lives there so that would make more sense that it was at the Environmental Center Trails absolutely okay so I'll I'll I switched them on my head sorry that's okay I'll get that straight with her and then I can figure that out and then Vanessa you want to do a storybook hike right yes but I think that that I don't think that was the date let me just double check I thought it was earlier in May hold on let me just check real quick on that yeah May 4th so Saturday May 4th was um what I was available to do for the story book hike Saturday May 4th and what time um good I guess 10: a.m is fine 10: a. and you were going to do it at where um well I guess if we're doing if we're going to be doing the um the National Trails Day hike at Bunker Hill could do it somewhere somewhere else yeah um uh I I could do it we could do it on the Franklin what if we did it on the Franklin we could do the Franklin Park Side or yeah [Music] um or we could even do I don't know if anybody has another suggestion I mean what trails haven't we because there's a lot of there's a lot of stuff at John Clyde there's a lot of stuffa katalpa if you go further down in on katala there is a nice place you know by the river by the stream yeah that's that's that's where that's where that's the Bunker Hill Natural Area and the Frankland Park Natural Area what about like just doing it at like middle Bush or Inman like a place like cuz I don't think we've done much there lately yeah middle bush has that little kids area yeah yeah on the the wooded side of the parking lot I don't all right line I think I would prefer Inman I'd prefer Inman to Middle Bush the trail at middle bush is I have I have to revisit that one but I def let me um can we yeah let's do let's are you okay if I do Inman absolutely okay looks like all trash is picked up Saturday May 4 10 a.m Inman I was gonna say a lot of that trash is probably like not in the wooded area because I was there and I picked up trash but there wasn't much trash in the woods it's all along where the ballpark is the tennis courts all along those uh you know where the the reads come out you know and the grassland the grass area that's you're kind of following the tree line yeah that's where probably most is but yeah go ahead you know in and that'd be great yeah that might be a nice way to kind of like lure people into the so Tara I don't know I had shared with you like um those like Signs so I don't know if that's something that we would be able to because they have I I found like there are some like you know the people have permanent story story book hike Trails yeah and they just they they have the they're kind of like um like like yard yard signs but that you can like change what's inside of them um and if if if we if it's possible to get some of those then you know like in the other trails that I I learned about um they just change the stories you know they have they have the TR they have them along the trail they just change the stories and we could even move them from you know to different locations um that ultimately that would be great I mean last time I did it I just held the book up as we as we went on the hike that that works too um but when I saw but when I saw like the um a friend of mine who lives in Seattle he took his kids out on on one there and he was just talking about how much they love it and they they go back all the time and uh I know Teran when you first shared the idea I think that was kind of what you were talking about yeah yeah they actually do have one of those permanent ones also at um the nature trail at Colonial Park they're kind of Faded by now they're a little faded but you can still see them yeah you can follow along there um yeah so I could definitely see if we can get that I would need to work with you to see exactly what you're looking to put on there I don't know if we can get them that quickly but if we move fast we might it's not I guess what I'm thinking of is you wouldn't get anything on it like you would just we would just buy the frames bu bu and then I'd have to print and I'd have to print to we have to print to put inside there and you can change them so they're like basically blank yard signs with the metal posts they're like metal posts and they have a clear plastic it's clear plastic and then you insert whatever flyer you have inside I sent you a picture I sent you a picture in my email okay I can def okay those we might be able to get quickly I can probably try and do that so let me look into that and also doing the flyers for these events and then I'll send them out to the respective people awesome yeah and if if we don't have them in time for that that's okay but then like when we get them I can you know put them in there so it can be there got it okay that way that's probably something we can just order from like Staples or WB Mason or something like that probably okay can do that all right so I'll start working on these Pikes and getting everything prepared and posted and stuff and I'll keep you all in the loop awesome okay um so we have all those things going on and thank you to everybody who I reached out to to follow up with you I appreciate you getting back and dates and and and stuff like that that was really helpful um the next item is wayf finding and informative signage I I have no update on that yet um you know just still trying to get through the stuff that I have to get done right now but that it's still on the agenda because I you know it's important but I just no update yet okay and that's something we we're kind of waiting for Public Works to get back to us on that correct yeah yeah okay um and then the next item uh is kopa Park um development of kopa Park and trail intersections so still nothing on that yet the open space committee is still waiting or not they shouldn't say the open space committee it's really the township ship um is still waiting on permits that they need and to do some they are able to do some of the um foundational work which they're working on but it we're not to the point yet um where the trails would be kind of conceptualized but you know I've been told that we will definitely be involved in that as soon as we're able to start thinking about that okay great um I was I was noticing um like with all rain like you know how much like water are this collecting at the beginning of the of the park of of the trail at the Franklin Park National area yeah and uh as as they are doing work over there I'm wondering if we can like you know hopefully we'll be able to like encourage them to kind of build the path up a little bit higher so it's not so it's not so soggy got it yeah because just like so many I get especially that first section that will will ultimately be going by where they have they're putting the cricket Fields yeah um so definitely make sure to mention that when we have opportunity to to talk with them about it yeah that makes sense um and then the LA um the last item we have is the updates on trail conditions um I know um a couple people I know I know uh jasha I think you and you you entered um your information oh here Tara has it awesome Yep so this is the spreadsheet whenever you all enter your information it goes into here um and the most recent are these are the last so these were the new ones here so from jasha and Vanessa and Chris where's Chris did I think he talked about this one at the last meeting because this is from January 23rd Jan okay okay um so jasha it looks like you saw in the parking lot we have some uh Trail marker post that are falling or missing the chaos is still a problem I know that and the fence and fence damage and graffiti I did go to that kiosk and look for that you remember Vanessa you had recommended I see if there was like a number on it I might be able to just order there's no number on it so there's no number on it so we're gonna have to that we're gonna have to basically take that unfortunately take that lock off or figure something out so that we can get into it the same problem I went to Bunker Hill Natural Area to post the new maps and there is something stuck in the in the actual like Keyhole and so I had um something with me that I was trying to like get it out of there or like get the lock open and I almost got it but something's like jammed in there so I told DPW that lock needs to be fixed as well okay so you know for John C for John Clyde my main concern is the road by the entrance is so deterior Ed that uh I I I feel little concerned that it would discourage hikers to you know turning in they might think that it would damage their tires it is to that level it has been deteriorated it is like completely broken I yeah I was just there the other day you know yeah you were you're I said the same thing when when I went I was like oh wow this this is bad this driveway yeah and in a in a near future I think it would be more deteriorated with the constant rain heavy rain with the weather changing right okay I will put that in there as well that's that's 100% true you're absolutely right about that I'm wondering if some of like the um green infrastructure things that we've been talking about for nonon Williams could be applied for the driveway at John Clyde yeah definitely something towards the bottom it would be good on the sides at least but yeah we could definitely look at it and see if we could do something like that therez like the water is clearly like it's just you know it's naturally coming down a certain way and funneling if we can if we can find a way to re reunel that uh down not the driveway um yeah that's a good point yeah we could definitely look at that as a as a potential opportunity for sure I like it okay great and then van your trail report is here as well yeah there's a couple yeah I just um I had um there's also just um some graffiti like some there's still some some Maga graffiti at um and I I think I think I forgot to type it in I was rushing um at uh at Bunker Hill okay and um and also I I stopped by Butler and they on the bench there it has the Maga graffiti um so you Bunker Hill and and the road and the other thing that I noticed is like I I kind of just checked out like the parking lot areas um for Franklin Park Bunker Hill uh John Clyde and Butler and I noticed the only one that had uh like litter really was uh the Franklin Park Natural Area Trail head which doesn't have one of those big belly garbage CS so I'm seeing is at least the ones I visited the parking lots that had the big belly garbage cans didn't have litter around the parking lot oh so yes I was wondering so made me think about it might be if um if we were able to eventually get one there on the Franklin Park Natural Area side that might be helpful for that too okay sounds good all right yeah that's I believe the the idea is to get um to get those garbage cans in every lot uh every area but yeah I can definitely now and just I'm say say one more time I'm sorry where that was located just because I'm trying to write at the same time Franklin Park Natural Area at Franklin Park I think it's my not I think I think the big belly part if you if you scroll over to the right I think it's in the it's in the comment section at the end okay do you know what I mean like on the on the on the yep okay got it okay all right that works okay all right any other comments people who didn't have a chance to enter in this document but have something to share um I'm going I was going to add my my uh thoughts but I had I had to compose my thoughts I was at a um I was at negri on Sunday this past Sunday and it was so soggy I couldn't get all the way around um but just the things I've discussed before like the path leading from the chaos down to the bird blind is getting more and more narrow because of the encroachment of the grasses on both sides and also probably needs to have more Red Rock distributed again because it is gullying and getting more narrow and I mentioned the bird blind and there is also those large stands um that are used to describe wetlands and used to describe something and oh yeah you can't you can't read them anymore I don't even know what's there anymore um so we need to figure out do we need to want to replenish them um redo them um rewrite them refurbish them you know we we should make some decisions because it's a nice you know piece there but they're just they're unreadable okay I can ask the autobond about that because though that those signs they gave to us I believe um when they were first first put in so I could ask them and I don't know if they replace those or if I don't know how that went because it was so long ago but I can find out I mean they're nice markers there I think there's just the two of them one on the top and one towards the blind but um they're nice features and I have it in from the other side I have no idea what's going on in there um between all the rain and everything it it'll take a while before you can get back there okay and I did flush out a red neck a ring necked pheasant I was washing walking along the side going up and all of a sudden flutter flutter fluttered all of a sudden this humongous bird it was a pheasant flew out now I don't know if that's from the hunting club you know but at least it was in an area where there's no hunting so maybe it kind of figured it [Laughter] out um oh yeah that reminds me so hunting is over now too so everybody knows safe to go Tara I I forwarded to you um some uh Chuck had stopped by some of our Trails um on Tuesday and had shared some notes and one of the things that he had shared was um the hunting signs haven't been taken down yet as a reminder um yes for those to come down perfect okay and uh and there was also um the the part of the trail the the Red Trail that goes from Bunker Hill Natural Area to John Clyde that goes through the neighborhood um and there goes through like a Park area yeah uh it's all all this is all paved area um there's a no trespassing sign on the section that is Township property that is part of the trail okay um so that's something um that we can I think we can uh work to address too okay yeah and I have those notes from Chuck so that's great perfect thank you uh last call for Trail updates um just quickly I didn't mention that there were Holly trees planted along that trail leading down to the Blind and they had been covered with vines and and obscured and Chuck had cleaned them out at one point and when I was walking back up from the blind the other day on Sunday a lot of them were cleared out so I don't know who was there and who clearing them out but they looked great huh it a bit of a mystery I don't know good Myst it had to have been DPW but yeah I think those were planted by um what's the group um that does the trees the um the shade tree commission the sh commission I think with Chris um what's Chris's last name dond no from shade Williams yeah yeah I wonder if they I wonder if they were part of that since they they planted them yeah I they look great it was amazing I think I think they planted them um okay great um hearing no more trail reports can uh we have a motion to adjourn I move for you Jour second all in favor I I any n no hearing no n or exstension motion carries awesome thank you guys so much all right everybody enjoy and I'll keep you all posted on how this goes okay great all right you're doing ter really appreciate it no problem have a good one thank you thank you Kathy and Debbie