the open public meeting Act of the state of New Jersey adequate notice of the Wednesday June 12th 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 online at 700 pm. on Wednesday June 12 2024 and I also mentioned during the council meeting yesterday that this meeting is going to be online at 7M oh great thank you okay uh roll call okay Vanessa Jones present an Marie arusi I know you're here oh I see you there an Marie I just don't hear you but I don't think you're your chair so that's okay uh Christopher Gonda present okay then we got Jim Kowski here jasha Patel present uh Robert Kovac I am present okay um PES La present okay councilman karazi present and did I miss anyone no I don't think so okay great okay the next item on the agenda is the approval of the May 8th 2024 uh Trails advisory committee minutes I make a motion to accept the minutes as is we he a second I'll second that any need for discussion all in favor say I I uh hearing no Nays or extensions uh motion carries um next item on our agend pardon sorry um next item on the agenda is uh public comment okay we do have it looks like some members of the public Vanessa so if you want to open it up and we can then I can go through them okay do we have a motion to open for public comment I'll move to open it to public comment and have a second okay um so the floor is now open to the public is anybody who' like to introduce themselves and say a few words uh I'm trying to see if I can figure out so this is okay so we do have a few meeting get well first I see one I know which is is Bill Bowman are you would you like to say any comments no I'm good thanks okay thank you thanks for am am I'm probably gonna say this wrong so please correct me Amarth yep would you like to say any comments no this first time I just I'm watching let me see okay was with us for last two Trail for last two hike he was there at Bunker Hill and also at uh um yes oh great great you join us thank you for joining us thank you and then we do have another person listed as meeting guest but it doesn't say a name so if someone is out there with a uh and you're listen as meeting guest and you'd like to comment just please turn your mic on is that addition to Chris who's listed as meeting guest right now oh it might be Chris that might be let me see is there two or is there one nope it's just one that's you Chris okay we're good don't worry okay okay um can we have a motion to close public comment I move to close public comment uh thank you Chris and second second from anarie okay uh all in favor hi hi all right we are now closed to the public um the next thing on our agenda is our site plan review okay so no site plan review for this meeting maybe after the maybe for the next meeting because there are some things on our AC agenda for Monday so nothing yet though okay um and no updates from previous things we've talked about right no nothing yet okay moving on to new business um Pathways and trails plan address the final comments from osac yes so I'd like to get these comments addressed and just completed tonight so that I can get it to Mark Hy so that he can begin reviewing with the planning board uh so I'm going to share my screen here share screen hold on all right let me okay so at the last meeting we ended on this one we did talk about this the sidewalk am I right in saying that that we talked about the concept of the trepo road Martino Drive path did we come to a decision on no we didn't because I would have had what the answer is here yeah okay so okay so the first one is um um the trepo road Martino Drive path connector I'll show it to you in one second I just want to see exactly okay this is in section four okay so the comment is is that the sidewalk along trepo ends before the brook the original developer of the development to the north did not extend the sidewalk because it would have required a stream Crossing permit from njde that was the first thing the second thing is is that there's a living fence of tightly spaced shrubs along repto in front of the house with the corner of Willow the corner of Willow is to to the road and sidewalk so let me get up here what we're looking at um I'm going to have to kind of be bouncing back and forth so just bear with me here um Martino yes there is absolutely Martino is listed in there trip so okay um so we want to go to that one so we can see the connection okay so all right is this what they're talking about here or no that can't be it uh I think it's labeled as such yeah so again basically what it's saying is that the sidewalk along trepo ends before the brook the reason there's a reason apparently that it ended which is that a stream Crossing from D would have been required it was way too difficult to get so I think the commenter for this is basically saying that extending this path is not really the best idea because it may require this stream Crossing and also right now there's been some improvements made to that area where the living fence which is basically shrubs like a like big shrubs have been placed there so that's the comment for there so what do you guys think about that so I guess it's do we leave it in so we can leave it in and we can say we can add something that says you know we understand that I just want to look and see what NOP that's a different one okay um we can say we understand that you know a stream Crossing permit may be required but it's worth keeping in the plan I don't know if we want to take it out um you know up to you guys yeah I mean I I will say actually that's and and I was I was interested in this when we were talking about it and I did some thinking about it and connecting and I finally I finally see it all and connect it all in my mind I get the difficulty that the person is saying that that there's a stream you know and a thing but but this is actually the circuit ibike all the time and Willow connects right this is a great place for for a trail um and this is the way to get to get from Willow to to the uh to the park right to Colonial Park and this particular stretch of it is the most right like dangerous uh for for people that are either biking or walking or doing anything so if you're coming from Colonial and you want to end up on the other side of Willow right so you know how Willow goes and it it is it is close to to vehicular traffic but there's a little Gap in it so that you can continue to walk you know and go through um right this this stretch of trepo road where the bike path ends and then and then you know and then it becomes incredibly narrow right and this is where this is where the cars come and hunt you you know when you're on a bicycle or you're on on foot so I get it like the comments aren't wrong that there's a lot of um obstacles uh you know to making this happen you're right there's a brook yep you're right there's there's overgrowth you're right there's all these things but um that doesn't mean we don't need to f some s of connector here right so so I get it that these obstacles are here but as you are say it's still wor keeping in the plan because if we can overcome these obstacles this would be a huge benefit of connecting you know these different connections uh different parts of the town uh for one another I agree with you I had the kind of exact same feeling when I read the comment so I do agree with you rob yeah they're not wrong the comments are true but I still wouldn't take it out of the plan so anyone one else have a response to that or I think the comments are helpful you know just giving some of that history and it's just really identifying what the next step would have to be right to you know we would have to go through the D to to do um so not impossible but just a step that has to be taken okay okay so we can absolutely leave it in we don't have to accept comments if we feel that they are important to remain in so all right so let's leave that so I think that makes sense that makes sense so Robert you do see a way to make this happen that wouldn't well you know I see the difficulty I see that there is a brook right and I see that it's very overgrown and I see that um you know that there is uh a a a a I see that it's not easy uh right to make this connection but I see the value in our you know in in in continuing to see if there's a way to overcome these difficulties and ultimately connect because this is a um important connector link right and it's and we're talking like 200 yards that's all they got to do is is is is find a way to make 200 yards to keep this from becoming you know this is where this is where it's this is the single most unpleasant most dangerous thing if you're coming from Colonial Park to my part of town right through Willow because you you have a bike path you know up until this point and then the road is super narrow I'm looking at I'm watching you know I'm kind of like I'm familiar with it but I'm looking at it on on Google uh you know Maps as we speak uh on street view right it's super there's nothing there is there's no shoulder there's no anything there's no Gap you know whatsoever it's a two-lane road and there's like a two 300 yard stretch of it that you got to get to before you get to Willow right and you know many many bikers will either go straight on Ino drive you know where there's now a bike path again or they turn left on Willow uh to go through that you know cars only right cars are restricted from there right so there's no traffic it's a pleasant place to bike it's a great you know wide uh you know road on the other side it's it's like it's like 200 yards that we got to fix to to make it be safe so what I'm asking is Is it feasible to fix it I I I don't know sitting here right now okay yeah I have a question there too um if May uh put in there I I've driven that road and I do drive on it quite regularly when you're going from DeMont into Martino and then you you get into trypto there is this this Junction it's about 200 yards like Robert rightly pointed out now I also have a question is that um was there a reason why there was no spacing because that house on the corner is the reason why that situation is there they're both border just ABS that road right and uh and it's only like you know it's not that there is a lot of Shrubbery and there's a lot of trees and shrubs over there it's just that the the land from the house that actually like really goes to the corner I I I'm not so sure well yeah it I mean I I don't know it might be true I I don't know where their land ends I don't know if there's any any easement you know for for the was there a reason why that home was allowed that easan to go right to the corner because normally there is spacing left and and it is if you go beyond 200 yards onto tripto there's a spacing and there's a whole if we're talking about the if we're talking about the same house the corner that's on the the house that's on the corner of of of Wilson trepo you know where Wilson trepo and Martino come together there's a there's a pump station there right a sewage Authority Pump Station there um yeah yeah I but I don't I don't know where that that House's property begins and ends right the one that has the the the shrubs and and the wall of of of of of foliage growing right up against the road so that you can't see anything in any direction that that I don't know who actually owns that land right so okay so is that where the stop sign is you're talking about yes yeah yeah all right so it seems we should just leave it in yeah like I I don't know the lot begins and ends so I think we'd have to like do further further research you know to to right that's cor that's the lot you're looking at it b422 that's true so and you see how there is a bit of green right I don't like I said I don't know where the you know there's there's there's there's some space on the other side you know as well right so you know you know it doesn't necessarily have to be on that side of the road um it's but that little stretch that's the dangerous bit you know if you survive uh to Wilson you know there's two bits that I I take my life into my hands the the the 30 seconds I have to spend on East Avenue and and this bit of road if I can survive those two then I I've had a good day right yeah so Tera like in our plan like what are we proposing to do here we're proposing to put to have the bike path go in that area right yes yes we are proposing uh oh I went okay hold on I got to go back we're basically proposing to connect the uh there's an interrupted bike path basically there um because the sidewalk is not there and now we know why so we are proposing to construct the bike path that connects the existing bike path from Martino drive to trepo road so it looks like it's an extension of approximately uh the proposed extension at trepo Road and Martino drive and extending down Martino to damont would be a approximately 5,000 ft yeah if you look at it you'll see that the the the sidewalk right ends with the development or the the the the bike path sidewalk whatever you want to call it and then I think there's probably two lots that don't have it anymore and then it'll continue again when you get on the other side to to cross over yeah right yeah it's just that that's a cool spot too because like that like I said that left turn if you're coming from the park will take you you know in a very very pleasant way to completely different part of town right yeah I mean good thorough fair for for for biking and walking it's a good trail yeah I what we're looking at with this P plan is Concepts none of these projects are set in stone I think keeping it in there because for example if you look at the map I mean this map is not of course it's going to be off by a foot or two here and there but if this if the overgrowth is onto the road I mean and we wanted to do that we could cut the vegetation back um the uh the permitting is going to be an issue but it always is permitting with d whenever you have to cross a stream or a brook uh is a is just very very you know stressful but it's not impossible it's just would we want to go through it so I think it is an important connector and I think we leave it in and if it ever gets done that's great and if it doesn't then you know it's still an important connector I think yeah I think leaving it in the plan doesn't I mean that doesn't mean we have the resources there's a lot of things in aren't going to get done of course okay all right um at the last meeting we said here negri napot I just noticed need more investigation but the thing is when we're submitting the final plan we can't say you know uh we're thinking about this it can't get adopted into the planning board until it's a final like there's no more comments right from us so we're going to have to address this comment which is basically let me go back uh the loop trailer on the bird 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 and at the last meeting we said oh we have to think about that and see what we think um see if it's you know something we should keep in or take out so that is what we are on right now so it's my understanding that that is the trail that has been there for a long long time that is behind the bird blind and so when people are looking out they're looking out in the opposite they're looking out towards the pond we're talking about how because the entryway is off the trail right for people who need you know Assistance or need to use that ramp right so get rid of the trail right that's a problem I think we that one I do agree too leaving in I think it has been there um no one is going to walk directly in front of the blind because the pond is there I mean I guess you could if you were willing to be partially in the pond I don't think there's anyone that's going to do that uh I think it is I think it's an important Trail to keep in right and there's fencing on both sides right that also protects um well it makes it harder for you know the birds aren't going to fly away at that point I I don't see it as being a big problem right I haven't heard anyone until I read that comment say anything about that before yeah that was interesting I'd never I had never heard that all of my times walking through negri have ever heard that from anybody so we're not talking about the trail that's now on the other side of the bird blind like opposite we're talking about the trail that exists next to the bird blind correct well we're talking about a loop it looks like here look here so let me go to the because it says a loop trail is not I mean there is no loop trail the wording is confusing because people in The Blind do not want people walking behind them or near the pond disturbing the birds they're trying to observe yeah I think basically the commenter is saying commenter is saying saying they just don't think that this Trail should be proposed because it would be disturbing to the birds and the people okay cuz there is I mean I I hear what uh Vanessa is talking about she's talking about the trail on the opposite side of the pond that you see when you're sitting in the blind right and that wasn't originally on the trail map but it had been used yes so I believe we added it because it had been used so much it's used very often very often yeah it's moded and yes it's it's become a part of it and it is a nice way of seeing any birds that are on that other side um okay people walking around scaring birds I mean everyone who's birding has gone through that you know it's yeah part of the game so we'll keep it we'll keep it that's okay with everybody yep does anyone have anything else to say about that I mean I'm curious to hear what other people say yeah I think this one's a pretty simple one uh I think it makes sense to keep it you know um I think we keep I think we keep it I agree I agree I mean there's no way if you're talking about the one behind the uh uh the lake that's fine because it's already there uh and some people have used it but it's if it's behind the place where people come to watch it it's that's the way that you would approach that place anyway so uh if people are there I don't think it's going to cause that much of a disturbance and definitely not to the birds in fact the other Trail which is near the lake will be the ones that disturbs the birds right yeah okay so we're going to keep that one that onebody sounds good uh oh what did I just type here hang on one second I want to make sure I type on anything okay the next one I'm just getting to it is at Elizabeth which one did they say it is okay it is Elizabeth bike path to Willow Road okay Elizabeth bike path to Willow Road oh that's just a table of contents okay Elizabeth bike path what's that Weston Road Willow Road Willow oh my gosh that's just the map okay um we got there Elizabeth okay Robert Robert do you have any experience on that one um I I think so I'm actually trying to make sure that I'm in the right Elizabeth Elizabeth to Willow Elizabeth to Willow uh let me see what the commenter said first so we can get oriented there is an intended absence of a bridge between the two parts of Willow Road because the residents of quailbrook did not want this um so I think basically the commenter is saying take a quick look at this because apparently this I guess was something that was looked at in the past and the residents were not of quailbrook did not like this what we're proposing is a construction of a bike path that extends the proposed bike path from Elizabeth AB to the township owned Willow Road property the user would proceed from Elizabeth a moving East on West Road where they would turn left on Cedar Lane from this point the user would make a right on trto road and proceed through the intersection we just talked about and then they could get over to Willow Road so this was like the very remember we when we were developing this bike connector we talked about it in segments so this is where we just were trepo and Martino the pink is one part yeah the yellow is another part we were looking at so all of it together makes this and you get over here to Willow Road um and is he where is he saying that there's no Bridge he's saying that on the two sides of Willow Road let me just read it on there is an intended absence of a bridge between the two parts of Willow Road yeah but that's only that's only for automobiles it's it's there is no it's not a bridge it's just that there is a barrier that doesn't let uh cars through if if we're talking about the same thing there's AAP wonder that allows bicyclists and pedestrians through right between the two yeah yeah yeah because Willow Road has a I guess a northern and a southern part is that that's how I should I should be thinking about it and uh and basically at that trepo right we've that intersection we've been talking about you turn left it's actually it's called Wilson you know on the on the on the I guess south side of trep and then it's called Willow on the north side of tripto and if you keep going you get to um you get to a point where uh where where it's it's closed you can't you can't continue to go by car right but there's but you can certainly go by foot I me there's no there's no problem there you don't need a bridge right I'm just trying to see exactly where Where is the unintended part so Ceda Grove here's Weston where's the township near New Brunswick Road it's like it's like north of new Bruns it's like you know where New Brunswick and uh Willow meet just past there um Amwell wait did I go too far I went too far than you were you were near it before yeah there's Weston Road here's Cedar Grove Lane it's it's to the to the east I think to the right whatever you want to tr okay here's this intersection after after V week yeah yeah this is the there is a there is a point yeah sorry where you're you're you're where you need to be Tara that's it okay like that long that that skinny part just say Township property yeah like that's where so if I'm under Bruner Road and I make a left on to Willow I hit a dead end for cars but not for pedestrians and bikes got it so yeah so that really shouldn't be a problem then in what we're talking about not that that particular stretch of Willow is wonderful it's wide somebody keeps Paving it unnecessarily it's like you know super highway wide but no cars can can Traverse it right so uh so it's it's great it's uh it's a a nice little a nice little thing right because the the the the cars they hit a dead end right but there's a gap okay so we want to keep this one in too yeah yeah because that that makes sense yeah I think we should keep it in I I think what they're intended ABS not unintended absence sorry right thank you I think what they're saying that the quailbrook residents were opposed to might have been the park at within that open space so it's not opposing connections to a bike path but it's to that that yeah I think you're right Chris I think that's exactly what they probably mean all right so we're gonna keep the residence of quailbrook might be you know opposed to it being a path right all right the next one County Route 518 and Canal Road some areas are very I'm sorry just one second just a minor point it just says on maps it says Willow Avenue rather than Willow Road uh Willow Avenue oh on the map you're in the plan yep well no no no you have on I'm not sure what it says in the plan but in the uh chart here it says Willow Road is this right because I went on Google Maps it says Willow app and then the map you just showed had Willow a oh okay so I might be confused Willow Road versus Willow a uh Terra this ISS Elizabeth Avenue bike path to Willow venue okay I was just thinking like if there is a same road on the other side because El Elizabeth is other side and this Willow Road is by the new Bruns week road yeah yes It ultimately connects that's because sometime is the same road with the like a new Bruns week road is there and there is a new Bruns week Avenue also so I just want to make sure that we are on got it I'll make sure I'll check before we do the final I'll give that a quick review yeah I believe there's not a Willow Road in Somerset yeah it says Willow a on here too so yeah it's got to be a okay I'll make sure let me wrate a note of that um just to be on the safe side actually if you continue I'm sorry if you look at the bottom part of it says Willow Road on that map huh yeah take a look one more time on that map that you had okay yeah it is it let's see maybe that one what does it say is it Wilson or Wilson Wilson Wilson okay okay then good okay so I'll make sure that that's correct Willow Wilson Road turns into Willow AV that's correct okay so the next one like I said County Route 518 and Canal Road some areas are very Steep and would be difficult to navigate due to exposed rock so okay do have to address the one before that uh only only the ones that are highlighted are the ones that we have that sorry that's okay that's done I got it sorry go ahead I'm sorry that's okay no no you're good County Route 518 and Canal Road it's probably this map every time I click on it I always choose the wrong one for some reason okay uh here we go County Route 518 and Canal Road we are proposing plan and construct a recreational and educational Trail on existing County and township open space these Trails would connect the county parking lot to the former KY property with the existing Trails on the north side of County Route 518 so this was a you know a concept basically and the commenter is saying that in this area uh there's steep topography and areas of exposed rock that may make it difficult what does everybody think about that I don't know enough about it it's it's it's it's County Road 518 and Canal and Canal I just want to make sure I'm do you remember is was that was that something that where did that proposal come from do you remember was that in the previous plan or something chuck had brought up this is something Chuck brought up but it's because of the county-owned open space that we were able to get so that area is just wooded with nothing going on and there it would be a good connector so it was kind of you know thinking ahead yeah I see this as the same as the other comments I'm like well yeah there might be obstacles to it and yeah the terrain might be difficult to navigate for for a certain segment you know of the population but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be in our plan that there ought to be a trail here if we can if we can make it happen right I think in that vein I think it stays part of our plan and we acknowledge that yep you're not wrong right there's definitely some terrain that might make this difficult right still still should be in the plan y I don't know how to say that nicely no I agree with you I think it's I think these comments are great and are helpful when we get to that next step of actually looking more closely at each one I know we're not at that point right now these are like you said these are Concepts um so I think you know keep it as a concept but we'll be mindful of it when we get close get to it um to consider it more carefully for sure I agree okay be able to say it much nicer than I did but I meant the same thing I get what you're saying no I mean and that's the thing it's good to get these comments because it you know it makes you just do a quick double check you know which is which is great okay um I'll make it look nice later okay response keep okay uh let's see here the next one is related to Flemmer preser preserve the map shows almost entirely land in South Brunswick a more appropriate map which show lands north of Route 27 there's already an existing Trail along the east side of the canal that leads to County Route 518 not much else can be asked for this was a Rails to Trails conversion okay so let's see now what's up here okay oh yeah I went did I go too far no I didn't okay sorry going through here is okay is this the map that we have or what is going on here a map of the John okay that's the map more information I'm just trying to see what did we propose um it must be this flammer preserve Kingston Loop oh okay so the commenter is basically saying this what is this is this no that's the JFK the commenter is basically saying this map is showing mostly lands in South Brunswick but this is not our map this is because it's a state this is like the state's map so yeah I mean you know most of it is I think in South Brunswick anyway right there's a small par of it that's in Kingston but not not the entirety right and what does the commenter want us to do to remedy I don't uh basically it just says a a more appropri a map I guess a different map would be more appropriate but we would have to make the map because it's a state it's the state's map yeah um and basically says there's already an existing Trail not much else can be asked for this was a Rails to Trails conversion so I think this is one of the instances where we're showing land that is in Franklin Township but not owned by Franklin Township but it of course links to our properties and is part of our open space and Trail network but I mean we're not going to recreate the map right that's already done by the state of New Jersey terara what's the but what's the um we're proposing to expand what's currently The flber Preserve no we were not this is the this is the part of our plan where we're basically showing all the maps of properties in Franklin Township it's just like the it's like the um compendium of maps Okay okay so I see I see yeah it's the compendium of maps at the end so there's really not much we can do about that because we it's it's not our map and it's not our property yeah so but the FL but The flber Preserve is a portion of the Flemmer preserve yes is in Franklin it's a very small Loop though but it's part of the larger um area so we don't they have the map so the state of New Jersey make you know made the map that's the one we go on okay because I was wondering if we should like map you know map it ourselves for but you're saying the our section is the small part it wouldn't make sense to do that right I mean not at this point not to hold it up for another month or two I don't no no I don't mean to hold it up I moving forward yeah can you answer the comment by saying this is the best available map for the you know for the purpose yeah that's that's basically what the truth is you know so okay yeah Tera with the map can you point out where 518 is because I'm trying to see what they're trying to you know what part is South brunic what part is Franklin even though you said it's a small part okay hang on one second state map with the state map okay uh let's see here I have to get close to the screen because I do not have my glasses Kingston is the blue Kingston is the blue 4 point see it says it's a 4.5 Mile Trail it's not though in Flemmer in Franklin it's not it's I think it's like a mile of the entire Trail is in Franklin right is that that what you're saying it's like a it's a 4.5 Mile Trail but it only mile is in Franklin yes yeah now where's Old Georgetown Road hang on here let me see this I mean I agree this map is not like the best map ever absolutely not um but it's the map that is there you know yeah where would old George oh so here's Route One okay uh what is that over there 27 is right here okay this is Route 27 so J joh is I think root 518 yes it's not I don't think it's shown on this map but what does that say six you know let me do this yeah is a canal there too Kingston okay 27 oh these have but it's hard to see what's what it's blurry I agree it's not the greatest map but it's not ours see we just update the map which just shows our part of the the whole Trail and put it in there uh well so we could do that the only problem is and it's not a problem if you really want to do it but in order to do that we have to go out there and do the gpsing of it and then we have to get a to map it to make the map okay so at this point yeah can we just add a note like to see you know to just to note that this um you know to look elsewhere for you the Franklin Township section or um CU I think it's something that we could you know we could add we get add to our our map collection you know on our website you know and update things there you know um or just note that we recognize that this map is um not ideal and intend to update it for the next PTP yeah we could we definitely could see are and it says oh so 7.4 acre preserve adjacent to the DNR Canal ending at Route 518 parking at Trail okay see we have photos there but no map so we don't have a map for this it looks like there has not been a map so I think just like for ourselves not for the PTP but for ourselves we can had it okay all right that's easy enough um let just write that in the future make a map I mean we can do it the of the Township's portion um we can definitely do this next well even if if someone wants to go out there or is out there and wants to use the that GPS app to map it we could always make a map that's not in our PTP and then add that map to the next PTP so we can do it in advance if we want you know okay all right Next One South Middle Bush Road connection what is this South Middle Bush Road does not connect to Franklin Boulevard it connects to Cedar Grove Lane along amwal road so my response page 30 fourth and fifth bullet I think this should be to Hamilton Avenue check T check that this is the intention all right let me check what that is um okay sorry bear with me here for a minute okay uh South middle and my computer's like going slow bush Okay um oh here we go Franklin Boulevard is this what he's talking about it must be all right let's see okay Frank South Middle Bush Road Extension Franklin Boulevard linking to The Landing Lane bridge in New Brunswick this bicycle lane runs along Franklin Boulevard to Hamilton okay so I changed this here I think it's to Hamilton Street not South Middle Bush Road yeah for sure is that correct y yeah that's corre South is nowhere near there got it okay so that's just the ti yeah yeah that is a typo so it should be called should we call so and what about the South Middle Bush Road Extension um that's okay I think let me just double check South Middle Bush the bike lane connects to the shared used trail along Cedar Grove Lane that is correct right yeah theth Bush hits um Amal that's that's correct yeah that's gowell and eventually goes to Cedar Grove Lane right so I think correct onew and then Cedar Grove and then yeah so should be the bike lane connects to Amwell Road and then to the shared use Trail along Cedar Grove Lane perfect all right so that's taken care of good okay um so let me just put this here we're almost done we're getting to the I see the Finish Line I think okay done or at least the end of that page yeah overall comment review the proposals to ensure we are not promising so much more than what the proposed Trail can achieve that's just a comment for everyone to keep in the back of their minds I guess make sure we're not over promising don't think we are because we spent a lot of time going through and looking at what could actually work and I think the commenter in particular is like this would be so hard you would need permitting you would need with that and we know that though that's the thing we know that they Concepts each project is a concept understanding that there may be slight modifications that have to be made to make it happen there may be permitting there may be public hearings that have to happen and I think it's we know that but this is what like in an Ideal World connection would look like and it's an idea you know okay uh let's scroll we got um deont Lane path is it possible to extend this Beyond Hamilton and well so I already started writing this answer but I just wanted to make sure it was okay before would be difficult due to the existing development and intersection at South middlebush Road and Amwell Road we could suggest safety measures to ultimately get to South middlebush Road but I'm not sure there is a safe option so there this commenter is talking about the deont lane walking path and you know how it basically starts and ends at anwell and deont they want to know can it go beyond like toward south middle Bush Road my immediate thought is I don't think we can make that connection there because of the type of intersection it is but that might be something we can do with signage or flashing lights or something like that you know not not necessarily a trail Improvement but a signage or an alert kind of system what do you guys think about that is that worth putting in there that we can do those things uh I've done we have we have the proposed path going down south um South middlebush correct yes I mean and if we have on I mean definitely makes sense to to at some point along the Route uh have a Connect whether it needs to be rerooted to avoid the intersection or you know what I mean like I'm wondering um you but I think we should try to find a safe route to connect those two roads right and where it is right now I mean that's going to be right now I mean yeah there's got to be a connection but it would be like kind of rerouting it away because Crossing there is could be you know scary right yeah I I don't know where it would be safe to cross I don't know it's is it safer to cross like over by the that middle Bush School building you know um or or no because there's not a light there yeah I think the only one is that stage house um no Crossing there right maybe you know change the light timings to allow people to cross over from there because there are traffic light so just to make it more pesan friendly the one good thing here so this up here REM uh this little hand is this is the stage house property there is you know the crosswalk here it's existing um maybe putting in like I said like the flashing lights or the auditory alert system and then you also have this pedestrian Island right here basically so the person gets across here then they can stop wait and then again cross so that's that's one way um but there's really not like a trail per se we can put in but we could definitely recommend you know the safety improvements t What part were you concerned about the intersection at damont or that intersection by stage house I am concerned about really both of them uh at this point but so here's the deat lane walking path you're coming down here which is great and then the so there is a there's this crosswalk here which is to me this is the most dangerous part here Crossing deat and then how do you get over here right cuz you cross here and then you're kind of like floating over here for a while to me this is like just so much traffic here all the time and just is that Township property right there this is the township property so you could walk along here and get to the existing uh this is a sidewalk I think already oh is that yeah that's a sidewalk that's a sidewalk yeah so you could just follow the sidewalk that's what I'm saying the path kind of exists if you just stay on the sidewalk and go to the crosswalk and then just improve this here and the this here is a really important device where it's for pedestrian safety so if we can get I mean maybe we just put a sign that says like continue PA you know path to South Middle Bush Road whatever along here then when you get here we have you know the button you can push the flashing lights the signage of people walking maybe we extend the amount of time that the walk signal is there for yep I think that's the better that's the option really you know I like that okay and I think that makes sense yeah and we can add that in okay so out terara yeah I think that makes sense it's yeah because that's a can be scary over there all right middle Bush Park Memorial Forest is it possible to build a path along Amwell between dead and Cedar Grove that would connect Memorial Forest on Cedar Grove Lane essentially a trail from middle Bush Park to Memorial Forest via Amwell Cedar Grove Lane let's see what this is what this link goes to I don't even know okay let me go to the regular map so we're talking about uh I have to read it again I can't even remember now it was from Cedar Grove to Memorial Forest am AMW Amwell between deont and Cedar Grove okay rail isn't that rail right away around there somewhere yes I think it is we ended up not being able to use yeah I think you're right so we're looking at zont is it possible little path alongside Amwell between the m and Cedar Grove that would connect Memorial Forest on Cedar Grove Lane essentially a trail from middle Bush Park to Memorial Forest via Amwell Cedar Grove uh I'm trying to get to this exact spot I this is like a large area to consider I think be done down at Amwell yeah because that's all so here's Cedar Grove yeah all right so we got Cedar Grove is here damont is here so we're talking about between here and here right yes yeah where's Memorial Forest a Memorial Forest is at the it's right around isn't it at New Brunswick and Cedar Grove right I didn't think it was that far down is it it's am Amwell and Cedar Grove Amwell and Cedar Grove Amwell and Cedar Grove uh where's the AMW well I go to start wearing my glasses I just really don't want to I'm trying my most I see Amwell is another one of our roads that has no sidewalks right yes here's Amwell 514 yeah I'm watching it it we have sidewalks up until stage house and then it becomes death trap for any other mode of transportation except except car yeah certainly could see the you know the need for it but uh but there's a is there a bike path going there or um on Cedar Grove Lane there on Cedar Grove there uh is there a bike I don't think so I don't think so and that that's another inter that's another intersection that's you know a little dangerous yeah there's a bike path eventually on Amwell but not there okay yeah yeah that might be difficult I mean that might be for the next iteration of the PTP because that's really talking if we get some of these Connections in place then that may become more of an option but right now it's like I think it's a little too you know big of an area with a lot of missing connections to actually make it work yeah okay well you could cut across that those neighborhoods right I guess uh you know behind the uh Municipal Building wav it hits Wilson and then Wilson is that far I mean it's less of a Tre on Amwell I mean yeah there are definitely right either Wade or or Smith Road on the other side to the to the South side right that's parallel Towell those are those are safer safer ways to go right so if we like we've been talking about this you know the intersection to Middle Bush you can follow South middlebush that goes down to Railroad Avenue which connects to Smith which then can take you down to m road yeah right to it Vanessa said there the bike path on Cedar Grove Lane starts at the intersection of ko drive that's at least where the signage starts so it does yeah head towards that direction but it's not quite yeah maybe it's something only think about I think it's a good suggestion maybe that's what we say is this is a great suggestion but we need to get some of the other work done in order to really make this possible so we'll we'll look at it again in the next PTP what do you guys think about that yeah sounds good well that corner of yeah sorry go ahead sorry go ahead yeah yeah all I was gonna say is for the record that there's construction right that whole Cedar Grove Amwell you know area behind the Shell station there's they're building a million houses back there now yeah so I don't know where that development would end but uh but I know that it's it's open space you know behind it and then you get to the Hyun Farm the the mikor tree people and there I know I believe that there's open space there so there there's you know that's might be where you can make a connector somewhere where where wherever they're building now would end anyway I'm I'm talking out loud no I get it that makes sense and I agree there are alternatives sorry councilman go ahead if I could just add a little bit of uh stuff because I I do a lot of walking around middle Bush and um there's a corner which um kind of almost connects to Wilson Road from Bush Park so there is actually a walking trail right between these private homes so like you know it's a small private probably a path um which I used to take and walk all the way to Wilson from behind middle Bush if you can see that so it's almost parallel to Martino Drive and all along to Wilson okay hold on let me just zoom why did it choose that that's not what I want okay let me back up to get everything in there this is Middle Bush Park y uh it's going to zoom in automatically so just give it a second here okay you mean the trail that's by the the baseball uh diamond right that goes out in in in right small triangle right you know on on that top Corner yeah so that actually extends and keeps yeah you can hit Wilson from there yep all right yes there is almost like the trail is there you know I think there's Mulch on it so someone definitely maintains it because I've been there through these past five years yeah yeah I use that trail that's one of the middle Bush that's one of the middle Bush Park trails right so I walk that and and inspect it yeah and you're right it it goes to Wilson which of course then takes us to that um the the the Martino Drive TR crypto Road intersection we've been talking about right I think that's the thing if we get some of those other things in place to actually have the safety options and the connections in place then we can look at that one I think for the next time absolutely yeah all right perfect um what's here Inman Park the trail at Inman needs to be improved this should be mentioned in the plan so in our plan we have for in [Music] uh let's see here conversion of EX of existing Trail marking system with paint blazes interpretive signage regarding presence and types of wetlands is recommended for educational purpose purposes so this commenter is saying you know we really should look into improving I think the surface of the trail itself at Inman that's how I read it maybe I'm wrong but the trail at Inman needs to be improved this should be mentioned in the plan so it's like maybe not improved with pavement but I think the commenter is saying like maybe it needs to be graded properly or maybe they were thinking about a specific type of surface doesn't make sense to me well talk about the southern part you know where the baseball field is uh the kiosk is in bad shape it's pretty far away from the trail and um the trail it it's a lot overgrown and it just looks like a gully and it drops down really quick so and it's all shale rock there so maybe that's what they're talking about yeah it the trail head is kind of hidden just based on the overgrowth right next to each side of the that little Gully more a gully than a trail if that's that's what I'm trying to summarize okay that makes sense and but I also think that to me the confusing part Inman is understanding how you know almost half of it is in the parking lot like to you know to label that maybe you know to make that easier to follow so if you're doing it as a loop maybe that maybe that's something that we're thinking about too we could add that into the trail these the into the um we could add that into this portion of Inman pretty easily and just say you know uh we're looking to you know fix this Gully with uh it would be natural materials but it would be like the gr you know not grading or whatever uh move the kiosk to the right place get the trail head markings out so that people can actually see it does that make sense or yeah I I lost what I wrote somehow so give me a sec here there we go I don't want this here I want it here okay we can add that in I think no problem okay uh the next one is and Jim kind of touched on this the beginning of the meeting but the comment is just you know uh this Trail feels less safe than other Trails can we address ways to mitigate this in the plan I also I don't really understand that yeah maybe anyone else does feel I don't you know I've been there I've never felt unsafe I don't know what the com I don't know what the basis of the comment is unless if they figure people go off the trail you know because then there is a big drop off you know yeah near the houses I guess that's a McAfee you know Trail you have no problem but if you stray off it I mean if you purposely go off the trail yeah there it's Cliffs you know right but that could be any Trail yeah you got that in a lot of places in town yeah yeah yeah so not really sure what they mean by less safe physically or you know surrounding your people or what right I'm not sure that was the only comment and honestly I kind of thought I don't really know you know that's kind of a subjective so I don't know that that that that needs to even really be addressed yeah it's a very subjetive all right okay um let's see oh we only have two more left okay dun and Gunther so this is a an interesting one so the proposed Trail cuts across leased Farmland this Trail cannot be constructed while the farm is being leased um this comment I just want to be like out in the open is from the farmer who leases this property so it's just something I just want to be transparent there um oh I'm in the wrong spot let me go to the plan so yes so basically we're proposing a future Trail and we had spent the one thing I did remember it was when Mark was on here we had spent a lot of time kind of trying to figure out um where the best place for this Trail would be to connect and I think that the the thought is well is that going to cause a problem for the least farmland and basically the answer is it's kind of the same thing with Memorial Forest if we if the lease ends and the township decides not to renew that lease because you know we want to use it for Trails or open space that's completely under the Township's purview and they can absolutely do that there is it is correct that if this property is current under currently under lease just because we want a trail we can't go in there and just do it we have to wait till the trail is till the lease is over or we come to some type of agreement with the farmer to break the lease but um you know so so just to kind of put that out there this is what the the oops this is what the uh I'm sorry it's this computer I I think I have so many things open that it's starting to go a little weird Okay um this is what we proposed in the plan it does cut across the farm field but again this is a concept and the reason why we were thinking of doing that is that there's a bike path beginning on the township owned open space that would connect to Van Clea road path to the existing Red Trail On The state-owned sixmile Run property um and we did say in here that this would require a trail Crossing At Six Mile Run Parkland and permitting with the state of New Jersey uh we do acknowledge that it would require a significant amount of funding but I think the reason that we kept this in here if I remember correctly is we figured that would be a connection basically to six mile run from the dun and Gunther property by bike so I think that's why we like and I remember we spent a lot of time figuring out what was the best way to do it because of development around there or the Historic Site that's there so yes we know it goes through a farm field but it's not it might not always be in farming it's open space that we lease to a farmer so what do you guys think about that I think we note that we'll be mindful of the lease and not consider it until that lease you know was complete right because that's what you're saying like well while it's leased Farmland we're not going to do that but if the time comes where it's no longer leased Farmland we could we could certainly consider it yeah got it acknowledge that we will not interfere during the lease and then I'll I'll make it I'll rephrase it so it sounds better okay La is this the last one it is okay last one Memorial Forest it's the same thing this concept was proposed to osac which was well received the portion proposed for the tree planting is currently leased that area cannot be developed until the lease is amended or expired and we do understand that and we can again acknowledge that same thing okay so that is the last the comments thank you so much for your patience uh what I will do is there's just a few comments for me to address I will then make sure the table of content and everything is correct and the cover page and I'll go through and do the last minute you know things page numbers fonts and stuff like that and then I will send it to Mark Healey and the planning board and they will review it and hopefully we can get it on for adoption to the master plan at one of the upcoming meetings that would be great great just one question that's wonderful job you guys doing just one question I have is that is there any plan to walk through these Trails just to confirm all these uh items and the suggestions so most of the trails the township existing Trails we've walked them all until we know that those are in the right place and that they you know they've been ground truthed um we some of the proposed items have been walked or biked I would say most of them have um I don't know if there's any that have not probably the only one is that dun and Gunther Trail uh but we did look at Aerials while we were doing the mapping and uh and all that so some areas we might not be able to do that on but we could definitely I mean I think most of them right have been kind of looked at by like you know like Rob said he like rides that path and pves says he knows the middle Bush Park one yeah okay great I also think that when we actually get to those items in the plan that we will revisit these comments and and go and before we actually move forward with any plan we would assess the the the current state of that property um before actually making any moves y right well and then the other thing is any Township owned property that we're making a change to even putting a trail in um or like any kind of improvement we would have to have public hearings for so that would also give the opportunity for public comment right um Tara I I just want to thank you for your patience and like your diligence with this plan this has been a long uh and I know you wanted it done a year ago oh that's okay and and you we keep going back for revisions and suggestions and final edits and um I know that of all of us you you've poured yourself into it so so thank you for sticking with it and getting us to this near finish line thank you so much yeah know it's been good and I think part of doing it thank you part of doing it a lot of good things came out of it too like the paint Blaze system and the mapping all redoing all the mapping so that all came out of that so a lot of work even though it took time it was because we were getting everything right you know and the other thing is our existing Pathways and trails plan it didn't it wasn't based on G PS or GIS it wasn't ground truth it wasn't adopted by the planning board open space advisory committee never saw it so I think this is a really you know I think they see how much work you've done as well so thanks thank you so much I appreciate it all right so I will get that going and then hopefully it'll get to planning soon fantastic all right so back to our agenda um uh so we've gone through the pathways and trails plan section now moving on to the micro Mobility plan so uh and Chris just jump in whenever you know or cut you know just if I start going just feel free to cut me off because you know I will keep going but um where is Chris did I lose him no no I'm still here oh I don't see you meeting guest mg you're meeting yes that's why okay there we go so there you are so uh Chris and I and Paul walitzki the chair of the environmental commission and uh our Consultants from nv5 someone else was there right or am I missing someone Chris do you remember there was uh two Consultants from nv5 right so we met to discuss the micromobility study that we've been going over um they are basically I would say at the halfway point probably more than a halfway point they did say they think they'll get the final draft To Us by the end of uh July so that's good news they basically brought some of their ideas and wanted to show us and see what we thought about actually connecting those ideas so I'm going to put it up on the screen Chris did you have any like what was your thoughts on that meeting and you know what did you think I guess to break it down uh what they really wanted to um prioritize was identifying uh the best opportunities for uh on Street connections for bicycles and um and other micr Mobility devices so we're considering like um the the main areas we wanted to connect were around deont Lane and the municipal um the municipal comp complex uh and the amenities there with the uh business district up in Hamilton so that that goes east and west and then uh to be able to reach East Avenue and connect that to Mell road so if you could see the darker lines um where and the colors those were the considerations for which streets they wanted to prioritize and essentially we uh went through one by one identified what opportunities kind of work um and I'm gonna zoom in here first Chris maybe we can talk about this one first yeah and and interestingly enough one of them is one of the routes I use to bike to work from um my parents neighborhood in uh off of New Brunswick Road so it's not too far away from you Rob and a couple others here so um but what's important about this connection is yes it does reach over to Hamilton but that's also um it would also benefit folks who commute uh who can commute into New Brunswick and may choose alternative modes of transportation there so uh the maps were a big part of it they did explain um some of the the shared bik systems and scooter systems and and would include some uh considerations for what may work and where those systems can benefit um their parts of the township um and and I think one of the things worth discussing is you know possibly working with vo who operates scooters in New Brunswick and Ruckers and possibly um you know having them introduced up until the Hamilton Business District uh because you may have a lot of commuters that way but um yeah I mean it was a great discussion and our folks from mv5 were very knowledgeable and we're to any questions sorry Tera I could go on too so no no they were good I zoomed in on this section just so you can see so one thing we looked at that we thought was a really good idea because again the purpose is really to try and move people from the Eastern side of Franklin to the western side and this is a limited study because we have you know a limited amount of funding to do it but this I really really like this one because I think it really achieves what we're trying to achieve as far as moving kids and like the youth over so if you look on the screen this is non Williams Park and you know we have a loop trail here and we know that we see people on bikes this is a paved trail there's a lot of uh people that live in this area one of the ideas of the consultant was this road here is Chester and then you also have persing I think this one is is called basically though the interesting thing is from non Williams Park you could basically take if you lived in this neighborhood back here even as far back by Route 27 if you could go through non Williams take the existing Trail to Chester you could directly get to the youth center which is a really good destination between a park and a youth center for people for kids to use then if you continue down this way and you end up over here by what's the name of this road uh which road is this uh what is oh Lewis it's on Lewis right is the youth center yeah and then you got um what's what's this one here Mac I oh Norma okay so then you could come over to Norma this I really liked because they were basically saying one thing we could Pro propose is that you could put a path around the woods that goes directly between Franklin Middle School and Hill Crest so basically if this was a micro mobility and we have bike racks and bike storage scooters things like that um safety signals for safe Crossings for the kids you could really get movement from these two schools with a stop in the middle for the Youth Center over in nonan Williams Park and then there's you know development on either side so I really really like that idea a lot so that was one they also looked up here at uh potentially doing some micro mobility in this this area but where Pine Grove Elementary School is by conoy Park in the little leag fields and then there was another uh major study area over here let me just get up uh am I in the right yes I'm in the right area right Chris right yes so you got Connor Le Road school here they show where the existing sidewalks are they proposed this cut through to basically get from uh the connly Road Middle School and this area over here to eventually make your way over to deont Lane which is where the walking path is you can then connect to Middle Bush Park and then you could also connect to Easton um they also noted where the East Coast Greenway was which is right in this area potential there's a it's there's nothing there but the uh East Coast Greenway has recognized it as a potential Point um so that is good to keep in there we talked about things I forget that where is the greenway because you mention before that that was gonna be on Winston right yes it's over by Winston go ahead Chris where is it so if you see uh new runic road towards Schoolhouse Road the road track looking um paths so if you follow that all the way uh from the left side of the screen it does snake its way over to the right portion so this is the onroad um designation for the East Coast Greenway it's not set in stone but it's what the greenway um East Coast Greenway organization recognizes as parallel to the actual Greenway on uh the top paath right I think a post it might be covering it right now uh but it's probably right here under I would assume right um we also talked about Chris you I have my notes but do you remember what this stands for rrfb it was flashing Beacon some do you remember that oh gosh rectangular rapid flashing beacons yeah it's basically they also included in their plan so it's not just you know connections and uh Road improvements I mean they did talk about speed bumps and speed cushions and uh turnouts if you know to so basically slow traffic they also talk about putting signals in like these flashing beacons and extending the time that people have to actually cross uh signage and then the other thing was important which I thought was really smart they talked about not only putting bike racks and repair stations in but also having charging stations for the ebikes and the E Scooters having the Bike Share programs nearby um uh making sure we can connect those with the county routes for Scoot and dash along East and a uh so they basically talked about a bunch of different um devices and strategies to make this micr Mobility safe and accessible for everyone so that's kind of where we left it off after the meeting I thought it went really well I was really impressed with the consultant I think they did a lot of really good work um and uh so I think now the next step is they're going to develop the map that you see on the screen that was drawn on and then they're going to actually write out what their proposed improvements would be and they're going to range like I said from major road improvements to you know putting signals in so uh it'll give us a good opportunity to really look and see what's available the good news is the timing of this is perfect because if it's completed by the end of the summer there's a lot of money that's coming through the US Department of Transportation through the bipartisan infrastructure Bill a lot of money coming through uh so and it does include things like e-mobility electrification of vehicles you know non-motorized Transportation so we may because we have this plan in place we may be able to use that as a catapult to kind of like get something going so I think it'll be really good yeah and one of the other interesting things with uh they mentioned the uh temporary demonstration Library through authorities so um this is a program I work with at work too but essentially the Metropolitan planning organization has a library of materials that you could use to uh test out things like a a bike lane or other safety feature um add intersections to um one increase safety or to slow drivers or to um manage traffic a little better so that uh but these materials are free to borrow from this organization and uh it just takes a matter of um their conversation letting them know what exactly you have planned and how you plan to document um you know the the changes that are happening there uh you can imagine you know all over our state I feel like people Park up to the corners and uh it's called daylighting I'm sure Robert you've heard this before but um essentially when cars are parked all the way out to the corner it impede visibility uh for the people who are driving so they won't be able see people who are walking people on bikes people who are crossing there um so if you wanted to experiment and put out flexible posts or um bike parking up until the corner so that cars can't physically park there uh those are things that they may be able to materials they may be able to let you experiment with so that you can find out you know how how would it feel for people who are walking or the community members uh in regard to does it feel safer here has this really improved things so if but if if you're thinking about a bike lane and you're not sure how the the residents feel you might want to try one out get some feedback and then move forward with it depending on on how they uh they respond yeah I that I did not know about that and when I heard that I just loved it because it's like we can try it and it's free and because we'll have the plan we probably can really try a few things which is great because nothing it's like when he said free I was like really free and he said yes totally free because sometimes it's like it's not free but it is and I think you know it's a good demonstration project and even if it even if it's something we don't use it might just like also educate people that are using those roads like oh man I really need to slow down here you know so so I think it's going to be a really really good project and thank you Chris for being there because you have so much uh knowledge and it's like helpful it's really helpful so I'm glad I made it to the meeting yes absolutely happy to support but I mean it sounds lofty but um in regard to the demonstration projects but uh to be honest they they've done a ton to help shape what's happening in Hoboken and Jersey City Hoboken hasn't had any fatal crashes in seven years um because they were able to identify one better opportunities for infrastructure and improvements for people biking and understandably their their density of people using those active forms of transportation are different from our more Suburban town but um it's we already understand what the proven um methods are for making things more safe it's just a matter of convincing the public that they are doable they are feasible so I think that's a great tool to have access to yeah definitely I'm excited about it I really am I'm I'm looking forward to seeing the final product so so when we get the final draft I'll share it with everyone you can all review it comment we'll probably have we'll definitely have another public meeting once it's in a good spot um maybe it's something we might even want to present to the council like instead of just giving it to them maybe it's something we want to you know go and present to the council and see what they think because then we can show we worked on we had an idea we worked on it it achieves multiple goals you know so Alex maybe we can work with you on that as we get closer oh you're muted councilman you're muted absolutely yeah that'll be great actually yeah I think they would like to see it and Tera once we see that plan then I guess we'll have a discussion as a committee and determine you know kind of where we would want to strategize and and and you know try to work on yes we can definitely look at it see what we want to work on it actually was referenced micromobility was a big focus of our community energy plan um so there's also some Crossover with the Environmental commission but yeah I think we can look through maybe the first step might be doing something with this demonstration Library um or maybe it's looking into to see how much money can we maybe get from the the dot if we have something in place so yeah but we'll maybe we start off small I don't know it's really going to depend on the timing but we should go through and prioritize it for sure it just sounds like a lot has a lot of potential I want to make sure that we uh don't drop the ball yes absolutely I agree it will be good uh during the demonstration to or presentation to the council to have a PRI prioritized list and which one we wanted to uh to uh work on and why it's more important than the others right absolutely okay that works so I'll let you know how it goes we have about half an hour left okay we can run the rest are are super brief okay so we have about half an hour hour to you know um to go through the rest of the agenda um the next item we have is the corporate responsibility volunteer day at um at NE so Tera did you wanna I'm sorry Amar did you wna um talk about that for a second well Claire has who we met at the event National Trails day has really taken it and really worked hard with her L'Oreal partners in their corporate day she has 25 volunteers who are signed up she has a list of all the equipment she needs and the equipment she's bringing and we have DPW thank you Tara who's going to assist us that day and um there's t for the volunteers to have shelter when it gets real hot they know exactly what they have to bring they're really excited um we have several projects in mind that we're that's going to happen cleaning out some of the area around the bird blind cleaning out the area around the Holly trees on the way down to the bird blind all these things have been so overgrown and so neglected um it's really a very exciting project and hopefully we'll have enough mulch to pull around the Hol which helps you know keep the weeds at Bay a little bit I mean it it's just a great opportunity and the fact that it's all come together in two weeks is truly remarkable because we've needed this for so long so I'm really and and Chuck our former member for those who don't know has really been very helpful in working with Claire and planning it out and providing pictures of invasive plants so everyone knows what to pull and it's G to be great it's a great opportunity the one question I had left over from National Trails day there was that gentleman with his daughter he wanted to volunteer and I wanted to reach out to him and tell him what the effort was that day if he wanted to join the group and he'd have to sign a waiver obviously um Claire I'm sure would have extras and um does anyone know how to reach him I have the sign inry and I have his uh his email I can share that okay great so I'm just gonna reach out I mean he said he was interested that'd be great and and we have our other person who's listening to us if you want to help us I'm sorry not good with your name Emma math Emma amarna amarna sorry I I butchered it I know we met several occasions several times at both those different trails and um if you're interested or your family members are interested it's on Friday the 20 I'm sorry Friday the 14th Y and I think it's 9 to 12:30 if I'm correct and it's all happening at negri that's the big spot that's where it's all happening and there's going to be a lot of stuff going on and um if you want to join us let us know know you have to sign a waiver and but we're good okay so how to get those thing information um the waivers um if you I can email you one if you want to put your if you can put your email address in the chat I can email you a waiver and then you can just bring it with you or email it back to me and then just you know show up that day okay so all the information is there where to show where to show up and all those things it's at negri nepot grasslands preserved you know where that is no first so it's 260 skillman's Lane and uh it's going to be 9 9:00 to 12:30 and basically you just want to dress you know like you're going to be in the woods so you know pants make sure you wear sunblock insect repellent yeah long sleeves bring water and then people will direct you on the site you know what to work on okay I was thinking Al that we didn't include safety glasses I was thinking that might be a good thing to people to wear because the weeds are so high that you're pulling things up towards your face and you might want to have some eye protection and also people can bring gloves also it would be easy to pull the weeds right I think we did say gloves and Claire was GNA bring some gloves and DPW is going to bring some gloves they said so oh cool great I'm excited it was such a great opportunity um conversation you know coming up on National Trails day and the everyone pulling together to capitalize on this volunteer opportunity with L'Oreal is really nice so thanks to everyone who helped um the next item is our Firefly walk um which um we have scheduled for Saturday July 1 uh 7:30 p.m. and uh that's going to be at the John Clyde uh grasslands in griggstown um so it's a great event if you haven't been there before uh it's just nice you get to see the the the light show it's you know the fireflies do a nice little light show um out on the out on our grasslands you said 7:30 Vanessa right 7:30 yeah and it doesn't get I mean look at it now it's 8:30 and it's not dark um yeah that's that's tough time to kind of fill that spot do you think astronomy club would be interested in joining us that night so the astronomy club actually reached out separately and they are looking to do observations every Friday night at griggstown now through August so they might not be able to do it every Friday night but they basically asked for the ability to do so so they were just given that approval so I don't know if they would do it Saturday I could ask but they're definitely going to do Friday I believe because that would be great emailed him H okay that's great if they want to come and join us because that was a great draw also and that gave some people you know a little extra for that coming out that night and like Vanessa said it's a great we get a good turnout okay we need a flyer right and to send it to W yes yes okay all right any yeah I'll work on the Fly I know you I think you mentioned before Tara that's we is it possible to get it in Spanish as well um I think it is I have to yeah I'm sure we can I just have to find out who the person is that can translate it I'm sure I can find out and if it can't be if you could just share it with me in a format that's editable I can work on that on my end too okay sorry when was the what date was you mentioning the event uh July 13th Saturday July 13 oh okay sorry I might not be I'm out of country that's next year you know we've been having it every year which is nice okay I will try I'm coming back and 12th but I have to make sure okay thank you so I no uh for fireflies the peak viewing time is like a June end to July 1st week most of the uh fireflies hike are in uh June end June 29 or 30th um not much in a July Chang it's typically it's typically the first to second week of July did that change for this year yeah I see it it is mostly a watershed Institute Duke Farm they all have it on June 29th I just want to make sure that we are not late we won't be late you know um yeah it's pretty disappointing for a firefly night and there's no Firefly yeah no we want to do it now since we are doing it we want to make sure we do it on a Time the big time for the fireflies to be out with the population you know see Teran Orchard uh Duke Farm Watershed Institute Duke Farm has a July 7th but others they have on June 29th I don't know enough about fireflies yeah I was talking to Chuck about it at the the trails and normally it's it's between the first and the second week of of July and you had said jasha to stay away from the Fourth of July weekend and that's why we went with I remember that just because of the July 4 July long weekend yeah yeah but I mean hopefully it won't be too late July 13 people would be able to see the fireflies and if we have the astronomy the same night hey kind of works yeah yeah well so Tara are you saying that they're doing it on on that um on July 12th on the Friday July 12th they've asked for the ability to do every Friday night now they said they don't know if they are going to get there every Friday night um but we basically said yes you can use Friday night the John Clyde Memorial native grasslands preserve uh the only restriction is basically that um they had to limit it I believe 20 cars and also if it's lightning they cannot be there so potentially yes they they may be there July 12th but I can ask him if he's they might be interested in coming both days because they do do a lot of events okay um so jasha what do you what do you think I feel like um I'm not available you know um that last week in in June um I could possibly do you know the the July the other um the July you know 6th but so I guess it's a matter of the do we want to avoid the Fourth of July window and you know maybe have less of a light show with the fireflies I've been researching this question of when do fly flies come out of the ground online and my vast experience gained in the last 45 seconds seem to suggest that the show starts in late June but it stretches all through July and into August and fireflies like the muggi and the hottest of weather so the the more the more unbearable the evening is the more fireflies you are likely to see that's what I've learned in the last uh in the last 45 seconds of uh Firefly graduate school online mest and warmest wether maybe July July uh into the beginning of August but late August already when it starts to get cool like at night then they're they're uh that that's that's when they start to fade but July should be fine I I'm like I said this is my vast Knowledge from 45 seconds of doing internet research but I I I get the impression that July mid July is not a problem for for seeing fireflies it's not like they're in June and gone by July when what was the date I mean what was a month last year we keep the Firefly was it in a June or July last year it's always July we've always we always do it um beginning to Mid July all right yeah let's let's continue with July 13th yeah we always do it that second week usually I'll see if uh I think we can probably leave it the way because I don't think anyone's really around the week before even to kind of do it and then the town the next one thing I wanted to bring up on the agenda um is also the town is having their uh um Independence Day celebration they do that on it's on Wednesday the 3 but it's still kind of close yeah let's 13th then July 13th is okay okay one final question is 7:30 too early I know every year we kind of talk about pushing it back right and it's it's it's the little kids that kind of keep it kind of it would be by 730 bright it's still the idea is us we know that it's going to be bright walking out we wanted to have it darker when we're walking back right and then we we've stalled we've stalled we've walked slowly we've added extra time as we're wig zigging our way up but I I just I I don't know what else it's really bright when we start I just don't know should we just start at eight even the extra half hour would help or Noha what time is Duke what time is Duke starting theirs good point 8m 800 pm. they're starting at 8 they're starting at 8 I'm I'm okay starting it at eight if you guys want to push it back a little bit I think that probably makes sense we can experiment see how it goes I like it okay all right um just I know it's not on the agenda but since we kind of talked about it a little bit I did get the an email from recck about they are going to have Community tables at the Independence Day celebration which is July 3rd from 6:00 to 10: at the municipal complex so if anyone wants to be there to Mana table I'll be away um we don't have to have one I figured I would just throw it out to see if anyone wants to have a table that day you know we have done it in the past and it everyone's so pumped up for July 4th and the and all the everything that's going on it hasn't really been that successful I'd rather put our efforts towards Franklin day okay that makes sense I think so I think that works is there anybody else uh I know Jim sometimes you've done that event the on fourth of jly are you okay with us skipping it this year absolutely I think I think it is a missed opportunity because you know you do get a lot of people from town and a lot of people do stop by if we have maps to hand out that's the thing too but I'm not sure yeah I mean I could get you Maps the only thing is is that the tight time frame is going to be a little tough for me because I'm going to be going away um on vacation so it might be a little hard okay yeah we can we can always uh find other opportunities yeah muray said you know Franklin day that's that's a big draw as well when is Franklin day I think it's September end of September yeah middle of September I just had to look it up the other day uh Franklin day 2024 I think it's 28th or 29th 28th the end and that's 28 that's a big draw that's a must yeah that's we'll be there for that it's back to being normal Franklin day and not a whole bunch of them like they did recently no September 28th yep just the one day Colonial Park 12 to 5 and bans yeah okay okay all right so um let's get our we get that on our calendars and Tara if we could get maps for that and you know um that would be great and I know you said there's been some problem s with getting the big map the the things to do map yes I'll what we like to give away that's map I'll keep trying to work on it yeah I keep pushing so I'll I'll let you know okay [Music] um okay great and um moving on to Old business uh the pathways and trails plan we already went over that yeah um National Trails day um uh thank you everybody who came out Jim thank you for your tent um was great um proves we weren't we were looking for your um your native plant folks we're not sure what happened I meant to to you so uh there was uh a big Fiasco too like you know I was uh I was out of the country too uh trying to my m mom was uh not feeling very well so I had to rush over to India so um I was there and I tried my best to get over back and try to follow up and try to email with people know from there but uh it didn't work out they got because I didn't contact them in time they got involved with Flemington so they actually so um they had a plan with Flemington Township instead of uh you know the one that I had planned out so um okay that was all the way my fault um but again that's okay yeah no problem we just we just weren't sure we were we weren't sure we didn't weren't sure if we dropped the bone some way or uh know and again like you know I had every plans of it and I had spoken to all the people who would know be coming over and help and because I didn't get them back and I wasn't around so and that was okay yes in the future we we'll find another opportunity for that um but um yeah so but it was it was a successful event um we didn't have a a ton of people um we had two you know we had two that's what I wanted to change as well like you know so people do get interested and come over yeah yeah but yeah oftentimes we do have turnout on that event through using the parks and wreck signup site but not not this time um okay any any other comments uh about National Trail before we move on no I think we're good um the bird Blind repair replacement is that a holder yeah it's just a holder nothing yet okay any uh for the non Williams green infrastructure any updates there so I'm meeting with Carl uh next week and um I did meet with him briefly before so I have to give him the list of things that he needs but uh it's going to just basically be you know buying the trees and figuring out you know how what type of Labor is needed and what they can do versus what we need to figure out so I'm meeting with him at non Williams I want I think it's Tuesday morning it's either Tuesday or Wednesday morning so I'll have a better update next time okay same thing with the trails brochures and Maps this has been so we're in the we're basically in a weird period of time because in our printing bid were basically like out to bid for printers so it's been a real um like I have an existing quote I'm not sure if I can use it still because now we're in the process of getting a new printer so I I've been working on that with the administrative assistant she has been really helpful but you know we're just trying to piece together so I'm hoping I can get those printed because once you know the print shop is given the ability to go ahead it should only take a day to print them like you know just getting it there yeah okay I'll get it though I'll get it there okay next item is trail walks and events in addition to the July 13th Firefly walk any other ideas or volunteers oh sorry July 13th and September 28th those are the next two that we have on the list September 28th for um uh Franklin day chis is the um I can't remember is the uh the summer the the running series is that over now or is that still on I can't remember I feel like did it end May 22nd or something or no it did so do you want to continue that or I do uh I'm not sure when I'll be able to revisit it to juggling family stuff and yeah work etc so I'll have to get back to everyone about when I would um begin again but I think it was a good event um and and yeah we had a couple regular members that joined us just about every week um but they were delighted and I think what we're going to do is move the event to different parts of town um because of you know where people can access it and Vanessa had some great ideas and we can talk more about that um as we plan offline yeah the only other idea that I had and we would have to figure it out but I think Vanessa especially because you're on the open space committee you might be able to work with Mary lco she's the shade tree representative for us I was thinking maybe it would be interesting in the fall to have like a a tree walk kind of and maybe we can work that out with the shade tree commission like a partnership between us and them and it would kind of be walking through one of our wooded areas and maybe someone can point out what types of trees they are why it's important you know just something to kind of like I like partnering with other commissions and things when we can that work that's a great idea like that yeah so maybe we can talk about that at the open space meeting and see if there's an interest from sh Tre commission that sounds great um any other thoughts anybody else want to have a hike on their Trail either this summer or this fall okay if that changes um let us know and we can uh get something uh something out there um Tara I know that um you had mentioned to me about the meeting calendar um did you want to talk about that yes that was thank you thank you for reminding me so last year and the year before we cancelled our July meetings because it's just a break a lot of uh the boards commissions committees in the town do cancel their what the extion of like the planning board zoning board they usually have to meet um we don't because we got through all the pathways and trails plan work you know there's really we don't have anything pressing for July so is anyone are you guys okay with well two things the first is are you okay with canceling the July meeting and the second is next year when we make the uh calendar someone I because I think this was my mistake and I forgot remind me that the July meeting should not be the inperson meeting so when we make it next next year June should be the inperson meeting and then virtual July and August but anyway so for July we don't have anything pressing on the agenda I know people go on vacations and stuff so my thought was I can cancel it again but I just wanted to get everybody's thoughts and then we meet in person in August to plan for uh I think our August meeting is scheduled for virtual but we can switch them so if you want to meet ver uh in person virtually right oh my God in person virtually I think I'm starting to I'm starting to get a little weird right now for some reason okay it's been like a long day right yes I I'm sorry to get okay if we want to change it to meet in person we can absolutely do that but let me let check the meeting schedule real quick just to be sure I'm correct here the next AUST of the 14th right yes we have it oh August 14th I'm I'm at a conference the 14th so it would be I'd be happier if we did the virtual August and live September but that's just yes I think every time something every time there's something on the calendar I look at my calendar and I'm like I can't there's always in the way I think that's why we made August virtual because I that week I also that's when I go like usually on my vacations I bring my computer but that one in August I don't bring my computer so but I will if we're do it virtually I'll bring it and I can do it from there that's no I do that kind of stuff all the time that's no big deal that's fine I I was just because we hav't seen each other I thought just to gear up again for the fall but that's fine yeah our next inperson meeting is supposed to be not until October I mean we can switch it to September if you want yeah I think September will be okay July and August is both like a vacation month kind of yeah so let's keep September as in person and then when's our reorg meeting we can move sorry when's our reorg meeting it's in January uh okay let me see yeah J so Janu December we we we can talk about the dates January we will uh adopt them right no I'm sorry December yeah that's when we can revisit like the balance of the inperson and virtual dates okay okay but we're thinking of September in person do we have to vote on that if you want I can switch it to in person and yeah if you if I can get well I would need a vote on both so if you want to not meet in July a vote on that and then if you want to change September that's no big deal it's just I just have to Ren notice it so then then let me move that we um can I move both things at once or do we have to do one at a time um hold on one second hold on one second before we do that because like September so we tend to do our back to school nights on Wednesdays in September okay okay and so so for me I mean I'm only 20 minutes I'm only 20 minutes from the municipal building but so is it is um September 18th the going to be the is that the meeting is it the third Wednesday Tara or the second Wednesday second second Wednesday so it is uh September 11th I also need to check my uh back to school night yeah we can I mean if you want you can all email me about that but or we can just keep it October and then next time when we make our meeting schedule we should just be mind the summer months jasha is right they really should all be virtual June July August because we don't have I think we are making it like in person virtual virtual virtual in person but we can move it doesn't have to be you know so regimented I have 18 and 19th back to school nights so I'm good I guess but yeah okay and I think yeah I think I don't know I think mine's either 11 and 18 or 18 and 25 I have a feeling it's 11 and 18 [Music] um so either either we could um I either we could keep it virtual or I'll just might be a little bit late whatever works for you guys I guess defer to you Vanessa this is yeah yeah SE September 11 usually we have an a program in front of the library so I will be late as well oh right right yeah I think the memorial we [Music] have sometimes they may have a different day but most of the times on just right on that same day yeah that makes we can also keep it as it is if we want and just you know whatever works okay okay can we leave it now and then maybe at our August meeting we can revisit it to determine once I have a better idea the calendar sure but July July if we are going to cancel it I'm GNA have to do that pretty soon okay so we can I think it's July I'll cancel July meeting I second second all in favor hearing no n or abstention motion carries okay so that means our next meeting just so everyone knows so we won't meet in July our next meeting is August 14 14th yep August 14th okay um the last item on our agenda um is the updates on trail conditions um does anybody have anything that they wanted to highlight um regarding their trail conditions uh just quickly the weeds and the overgrowth of Woody plants in the fields is getting to be horrendous at negri and we really have to commit to a firm I know we can't do burning all the time because it's very dependent on many things but we have to keep to a mowing schedule and think about using herbicides there because it's it's getting out of control and there will be no grass land okay and I did talk to the fire safety service so they basically just ran out of time and resources to burn at negri this year so next year I told them negri is the priority so griggstown if that has to be the second one burned because basically what happened is by the time they were able to burn we were already into nesting bur bird season so that was the conundrum but you know he said he will do his very best to get there first next year so that but I agree with you that would solve a lot of problems could we still mow and then yes there'll be enough to burn because all the I mean something has to happen or it's it's it's gone okay I will make sure I let DPW know to get on that I know there's different times of the year I mean we want to get bird nesting done and all that but um yeah it it looks it looks really bad okay all righty okay um I just want to comment that I think that um I was grateful that the uh Bunker Hill Natural Area was uh prepared for National Trails day and they even removed the fallen tree that was blocking a large portion of the yellow Trail so uh I appreciate that good good I'm glad good I left I left my um ratchet my orange ratchet because the the post still have a chain or anything on it so um just until they get something up there uh I left that there okay and there's still the graffiti issues um in the parking lot yeah I know I know all righty um Tera any update on a key for kiosk key for the kiosk key so the kiosk the kiosk at John Clyde I was given a key that I think may work so I have to I just got it when I met the other day like two days ago I'm going to go over and try it the key at Bunker Hill there is something jammed in there so I told DPW that has to come off and they have to put a new lock in because you can see inside it's like a it looks like a small P like a paper clip or something almost so I did try and fish it out of there but no good I think I might have accidentally like champed it in more but um they said they know about it and they're going to put a uh you know fix the locks so so I'll let you know if this key I have works jasha for John Clyde okay thank you all right can we have a motion to adjourn I move we adjourn second all in favor iar hearing no n or abstention motion carries thank you all for a great meeting