20220915 - Open Space Committee Minutes

OPEN SPACE COMMITTEE Meeting Notes 

September 15th, 2022 -The Stable 

PRESENT: Fran Barto, Janet Fricke, Yu Sun, Pam Perron, Rob Lasky, Jim Bostler, Nancy Bigos, Ralph Curry 

Summary 

Most of the meeting was focused on the town's Open Space Master Plan written by Barbara Davis of the Land Conservancy of NJ. Basically, the committee edited and updated the material in the plan. All the edits were forwarded to Barbra before her presentation to the Village Council in September. The edits are covered under a separate memo written by Pam and copied at the end of these meeting notes. 

The meeting notes will remain topical only and will not go into great details about conversations, etc. Also, the notes will stress follow-ups and the appropriate person who is responsible. 

Topics and Follow-ups 

I. Public Comment 

None 

II. Review/Acceptance of Meeting Notes 

Meeting notes approved from the last meeting in July. 

Ill. Village Master Plan Review 

The overall plan was discussed and will be presented to the Village Council. The committee generally focused on the Village Open Space Master Plan and felt that it fit the overall plan and mission of the committee. 

IV. Open Space Master Plan/Updates 

As noted in the summary, all edits were forwarded to Barbara by Pam. A record of these edits is attached at the end of this document. 

V. Green Acres Diversion --Status 

Wheels of bureaucracy continue to move on. There will have to be a presentation to the Council, submit the package that is being proposed, a public hearing must be set-up and everything then sent to Green Acres. The completion of this process is getting close but there is no firm date. 

VII. Open Space Walks 

April 23rd/Valleau Cemetary/Yu Sun -Completed 

May 14th/Dunham Trail/Janet Fricke -Completed 

July/ Graydon Park/Franes Barto 

September 25th/South Pleasant Park/Jim Bostler -Completed (As a plus, a second walk was conducted for the 3rd grade Special Ed Class at Hawes on Thursday September 29th.) 

October 15th -"PSE&G Right of Way"/10:00 AM Pam Perron (Graydon going North) Postponed 

VIII. New Business

A criterion for Acquisition should be considered for new property which includes what needs to be done to obtain Green Acres Funding for future acquisitions. 

Future acquisition opportunities were discussed at the end of the meeting. Nothing definitive was decided to pursue at this time. 

Next Meeting: Open Space-Thursday, October 20, 2022 at the Stable. -Time 7:00 PM 

Date: October 2, 2022 

Submitted By: James Bostler 

Open Space Committee Secretary 

Addendum -Edits Requested to the Open Space Master Plan by Barbara Davis 

The Open Space Committee (OSC) met last night for the first time since the Open Space and Recreation Plan final draft became publicly available for review. The group was unanimously pleased and impressed with the Land Conservancy of New Jersey's work in creating this document. The Plan is well organized, easy to understand, and collects an incredible amount of history and detail. Most inspiring of all, the Action Plan, pp. 286-287, gives Ridgewood residents the strategies to preserve and increase the town's assets. 

I attach here OSC Chairman Ralph Currey's page-by-page edits. The OSC asks that you check a few points and make some minor corrections: 

p. 265 In Executive Summary, after "The Village of Ridgewood's 2003 Open Space Report," add the phrase "and 2010 Open Space Plan"