Parks, Recreation and Convervation Board Minutes 20170926

PARKS, RECREATION, AND CONSERVATION BOARD

M I N U T E S

Date:                           September 26, 2017

Attendance:              Present: Chair Rich Brooks, Vice Chair David Sayles, Mary Mogerley, Lou Lembo, BOE Liaison Jim Morgan

                                    Absent: Village Council Liaison Ramon Hache, Michael Winogard, William Riker, Parker Weil

Also Present:            Director Tim Cronin, Deputy Director Nancy Bigos, Assistant Parks Superintendent Daniel Cramblitt

Public Comment:     None

Director’s Report:     June, July and August 2017 Directors Reports were reviewed with motions, 1^st D. Sayles and 2^nd L. Lembo. All were in favor to approve without questions or changes.

Minutes                   The minutes for June 2017 were presented and approved, no changes.

Correspondence:     There were numerous letters of appreciation from residents praising staff on the operations of Graydon Pool for the 2017 season.

Schedler Park           Sub-Committee Report: R. Brooks requested the names of the members of the Schedler Park Sub-Committee. They are as follows:

:

• Manish Shrimali manish.shrimali@gmail.com
• Philip Dolce pdolce@bergen.edu
• Ellie Gruber mandegruber@gmail.com
• Nicholas Whitney niwhitney@yahoo.com
• Michael Winogard michael.winogard@ropesgray.com
• Tim Cronin tcronin@ridgewoodnj.net
• Nancy Bigos nbigos@ridgewoodnj.net
• Dan Cramblitt dcramblitt@ridgewoodnj.net
• Ramon Hache rhache@ridgewoodnj.net
• Mike Sedon msedon@ridgewoodnj.net
• Jovan Mehandzic jmehandzic@ridgewoodnj.net
• Matt Cunningham matthew.cunningham@oliverwyman.com

The Sub-Committee has been tasked with studying the site and presenting design options, along with cost and feasibility analysis.  This is to be accomplished before the end of the year so that the Village Council could consider the options ahead of budget season. Design and costs will be included in the 2018 Capital Budget.

The needs of the sports groups, Schedler area residents and the community are being taken into consideration fairly. There is a serious shortage of active and passive recreational spaces within Ridgewood. The committee is directed towards balancing the needs for a sports field, playground, walking trails and conservation areas all located within the park. The committee met with a traffic consultant and has also reviewed the results of the sound study.

The cleanup of the property must be under contract by the end of October or the Village will lose the grant received for this purpose. This includes demolition of some structures and the removal of dead trees and hanging limbs that pose a safety threat in addition to cleaning up the grounds. The arborist will mark the dead, diseased and dying trees that are to be removed.

The sub-committee is focusing on the design and layout.  There are decisions to be made regarding a multi-purpose field, the parking lot (the sizes of these to be determined) and the other park amenities. The question as to whether the oil tanks were taken out was posed. This is to be determined by the next meeting in October.

1. Brooks requested the conceptual plan that has been developed thus far and any updates be shared at the next meeting of the PRC Board. This will give the PRC a chance to be familiar with the concept, have a discussion and put forth any ideas and comments regarding the plans for the Schedler property. When the plans have been finalized there will be a full presentation before it is delivered to the Village Council.

Bergen County         Grant Application

Open Space              .

                                    The Village of Ridgewood is requesting a $100,000.00 grant from Bergen County Open Space. This grant is to be used to replace the surface of the Maple Park multi-purpose athletic field. The application has been completed and the required public hearing has been accomplished. We need to forward the minutes from the hearing and the process is complete. It is likely we will not be notified of their decision to award the Village the grant until the spring of 2018.

1. Cronin spoke with B. Rooney and the funds for the Maple Field turf will be $100,000.00 from the Bergen County Grant, $100,000.00 from Open Space and the balance will be put in the Capital Budget.

It was also mentioned there was another treatment performed on the turf field September 21^st. It was also pointed out that new forms of maintenance will be undertaken on the new field to prolong the life of the turf.

Green Acres              Diversion Update –

None of the residences under consideration wish to sell; there are others sited and they are still discussing the proposals. Confidentiality prohibits T. Cronin from mentioning the sites to be considered. J. Morgan mentioned he has an idea for a site, which he wishes to discuss with T. Cronin.

Graydon Pool           National Register of Historic Places

                                    Graydon Park was put forth to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the State Historic Preservation Office and was found eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.

Once the ordinance has passed there will be a lack of control of what services and renovations can be performed at Graydon Park. Once a place has been deemed historical you cannot change much without permission from the New Jersey Historical Preservation Division. In essence, you lose control of your own property and it will cost more to perform any renovations.         

Estimates to refurbish the bathrooms were received and they were deemed to be an inordinate amount of money, therefore the plans were on hold. They are hiring a new architect. Tim walked through with the architect. He said the baths were actually not that bad. He gave an estimate of $30,000.00+ for his services. T. Cronin is unaware if there has been a contract executed.

Graydon Pool Badge Sales

1. Brooks indicated that the PRC would be interested in seeing the revenue from the 2017 season badge sales. He would like to compare the numbers from last year and the numbers from this year, with the incentives for badge sales that were put forth. It seems usual members decided to buy their badges early to take advantage of the discount. However, there was other badge opportunities offered and that will also have a bearing on the numbers for the 2017 season. N. Bigos will bring the actual figures to the next PRC meeting in October.

New Business          Pickleball

                                    Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the nation. It is very popular in the Village of Ridgewood. R.Brooks spoke with Mady Soukis; she would like to speak to the PRC about having dedicated pickleball courts.   Apparently the Upper Ridgewood Tennis Club has adapted their platform tennis to pickleball. Ramsey has designated courts and Glen Rock is proposing to do the same.

The neighbors complained about the noise when pickleball was being played at the Glen School Courts. Subsequently pickleball instruction had to be moved to the courts on N. Monroe. It was proposed that the PRC bring this to the attention of the Schedler Sub-Committee and suggest a pickleball court be included in the plans for the park. N. Bigos shared that the Ridgewood Pickleball program quadrupled in number of participants since this year-round sport was introduced.

1. Brooks will ask Mady Soukis to give a presentation at our next meeting.

Wi-Fi

1. Sayles is working towards the initiation of the Wi-Fi program for Graydon Pool. There are other municipalities that employ wireless at their facilities. He has spoken with D. Hansen and he seems amenable to this program. As always, the big concerns are for safeguards. The need for accountability, security and the prevention of access to undesirable websites and the usage by pedophiles are foremost concerns. D. Sayles also spoke with J. O’Connell about hardware. There is a watchdog program available with a cost of $8,000.00 to $10,000.00 with a $2000.00 cost annually. There is $6000.00 in the Capital Budget earmarked for this. Our Village Council liaison, R. Hache is willing to assist working towards implementing the wireless program for our more prominent public spaces, including Van Neste Park, Veterans Memorial Field and Graydon Pool. Having public Wi-Fi will enhance the revitalization of the Central Business District and the implementation of the new CBD website. Therefore it has been decided to launch the Wi-Fi in Van Neste Park.

It was suggested that when the program has been approved and initiated, the Wi-Fi should be tested in Van Neste Park and then rolled-out in the summer to Graydon Pool.

Liaison Reports        Village Council – R. Hache

                                    No Report - Absent

                                    Board of Ed - J. Morgan

                                    The school buildings are 100 years old, the heating and air conditioning antiquated and the maintenance costs sky high. The buildings will require $40,000,000.00 in upgrades that need to be done. This will be heard a lot more in the coming year. J. Morgan stated that they will have a bond issue. He also mentioned that the Ridgewood Alumni Association raises $100,000.00 per year for the Village schools and they just acquired a new scoreboard through their donations.

Open Space Committee - M. Mogerley

There is nothing new to report.

                               Fields Committee – R. Hache/ R. Brooks

• Changes to field policy discussed. Contention with Ridgewood Hoops, there is a rift between Tim Daly and Mike Troy, they are to meet and discuss issue.
• Schedule for Fall has been completed
• All soccer camps went well; there was a lot of competition between camps. There is a need for a liaison from the Community School to the Field Committee to avoid some of the problems had this year
• Some of the camps did not attend meeting
• The Village is considering the purchase of scheduling software to handle the complexity of field usage by our recreational, club programs and Ridgewood High School Athletics.

                               Shade Tree Commission – T. Cronin

Andrew Lowry is the new Chair of the Shade Tree Commission.

                                    There will be more shade trees planted this year than any other in recent memory.

• Parks Department 114 trees
• Engineering Department 52 trees
• Board of Education 34 trees
• CBD 4 trees
• Adopt-A-Tree 27 trees

This brings a total of 231 trees of varied species. This is a trend they hope to continue. C. Rutishauser (Engineering) embraced the idea of streetscape and as he receives a large portion of the Capital Budget, hopes to commit to funding 100 trees per year.

At this point in time, the planting of the trees is on hold due to the unseasonably warm weather, to commence in fall.

                               Community Center Advisory Board

.           Maintenance projects have been completed. Floors were stripped, washed and waxed. The Youth Center has been painted. Major purchases complete.

            There is several school mixers planned for October, the 6^th grade on October 20 and the 7^th and 8^th graders on October 13. D. Schablik is asking for volunteers to chaperone these mixers from the PRC Board as well as the Municipal Alliance members.

            Project Pride

Gary Cirillo is responsible for the restoration of the CBD and has been doing a great job revitalizing the area. He is on the committee with R. Hache to obtain new decorations for the holiday season. The “Kissing Balls” originally introduced in 1961, will be replaced with Holiday LED Snowflakes.

The CBD will be updated with new plantings and decorative banners will be hung throughout the district. M. Sedon has approached the Parks Department to do four new “test” tree wells. They will give the new tree wells a year to see how well they fare before replacing all tree wells throughout the CBD.

                                    Conservancy for Ridgewood Public Lands - N. Bigos

The Conservancy is now working in phases for the Children’s Sensory/Butterfly Garden and the fundraising to make it happen. N. Bigos stated the rock wall is in and trees selected. Sadly, the Black Walnut Tree had to be removed as it was hollow and damaged.

The challenge is the ADA walkway. They are obtaining 3 prices for the walkway and have learned that the stone has to be laser cut along with other regulations that are provisional to have the walkway be ADA approved.

                                Ridgewood Arts Council - L. Lembo

                                    The Ridgewood High School will call L. Lembo when the new artwork is ready.           

                                    Ridgewood Environmental Advisory Council (REAC)

                                    There is a new Chair, Bob Upton.

                                    REAC is short on members; they are considering combining with Green Team and looking for other avenues to raise interest in joining REAC. They are trying to obtain a copy of their bylaws as well.

Next Meeting            Tuesday, October 24, 2017 at the Stable, 7:30 pm

Adjournment             9:30 PM