20210928 - Parks, Recreation and Conservation Board Minutes

PARKS, RECREATION, AND CONSERVATION BOARD

 

SEPTEMBER MINUTES

 

 

Date:                           September 28, 2021 at Healthbarn at 7:30pm   

 

Attendance:                 Present:  Chair R. Brooks, A. Chauvin, M. Mogerley, F. Mortimer, BOE Member S. Dani, W. Ryker. L. Kloak

 

                                    Absent: D. Sayles

 

                                    Also Present: Director N. Bigos, Parks Office Assistant D. Kat, Councilwoman P. Perron, S. Antine

 

Public Comment &     

Correspondence:        S. Winograd called in to express her concerns about the large bond from last week’s meeting, the need to develop the Schedler property, especially after Ida and the serious lack of field and play area.

                                    R. Brooks stated that he will respond to S. Winograd.

 

Minutes:                      Minutes for May/June 2021 – were approved with motions made by F. Mortimer, W. Ryker second motion. 

 

Presentation –

Girl Scout Silver

Award/Sarah

Waisnor:                      S. Waisnor explained that she has been a girl scout since first grade. Her troop has done a few projects. One of her most important projects was the girl scout silver award where 40 hours of work is committed to a passionate project. She chose to work with mason bees by creating homes for them. She shared pictures of the mason bee homes that she built out of wood. The bee homes are located at the Stable by the sensory garden, Community Garden at Meadowbrook and at Healthbarn. The fourth home is located at Sarah’s residence. S. Waisnor had the opportunity to teach a youth class at the Healthbarn about the mason bee, their importance as pollinators and their home.

                                    N. Bigos suggested that S. Waisnor participate on Earth Day on April 10, 2022 to share her project with the community.

 

Pickleball

Regulations/Oct:         N. Bigos reported that options were presented to the Village Council to open up the pickleball courts in the earlier hours of the day throughout the year. The Recreation division is looking to open the pickleball courts so they would be open the same amount of time as the tennis courts. The entire PRC Board agreed that pickleball should be open the same hours as tennis. All members were in favor of this motion.

 

Town Garage/

Discussion:                 Skipped.

 

Parks                          Update

 

Kings Pond Park:        N. Bigos stated that Phase III is being finalized within the next few months.

 

Green Acres

Diversion:                    P. Perron will follow up with updates.

 

Schedler property:      No new updates.

 

 

Health Barn/Stacy

Antine:                         S. Antine reported that the Healtbarn is still maintaining Covid-19 precautions. The tents are up outside and most of the cooking is done outside. Programs are thriving and running smoothly. The lease for the Healthbarn is up on January 30, 2022. Negotiations are happening for the next lease that will be for five years. S. Antine reported that the Healthbarn received the Jefferson Prize for the frontlines team. We launched two million dollars last week for 200,000 meals. The frontlines are now the pantries, during Covid 19 the frontlines were hospital workers. N. Bigos reported that the gutters will be cleaned, Mayfair will be fixing the front window and the leak in the kitchen has been repaired. N. Bigos reported that Recreation is partnering with Healthbarn for a few classes this fall. A conversation was had about the poor condition the stable at the Healthbarn is in.

 

Recreation:                  N. Bigos reported that all the fall brochures have been mailed out and all classes are in person.

 

Community Center:     N. Bigos reported that the community center classes are also in person.  

 

Liaison Reports           Village Council           

• No report

 

Board of Ed - S. Dani

• The high school has received approval for field clean up.

 

Open Space Committee – D. Sayles – P. Perron

• A meeting was held with NJ Land Conservancy and consultants. The Land Conservancy is coming back on the 21^st and they will be getting a tour of the potential open spaces. The town garage was a big discussion at the last meeting.

 

                                   Fields Committee – R. Brooks

• R. Brooks reported that the last fields meeting was a week after hurricane Ida. The challenge was to find field space for all the sports teams and recreational sports organizations. The organizations were going against each other accusing each other of getting more field time. There were thirty people calling in due to their dissatisfaction with the condition of Brookside field the night before. N. Bigos reported that the Parks Department reached out to four companies to get quotes for Maple field.

 

Shade Tree Commission – N. Bigos – P. Perron

• The Village is going to plant 22 trees in the CBD tree wells.

 

                                   Community Center Advisory Board - L. Kloak  

• No report        

 

                                    Ridgewood Green - M. Mogerley

• No report - absent

           

Next Meeting               Tuesday, October 26th/The Stable

 

Adjournment                10:00 PM