20230216 - Open Space Committee Minutes
OPEN SPACE COMMITTEE Meeting Notes
February 16th, 2023 – The Stable
PRESENT: Fred Jubitz, Janet Fricke, Pam Perron, Jim Bostler, Yu Sun, David Sayles, Rob Lasky
Summary
The meeting focused mainly on the Schedler Properties and the Open Space Committee (OSC) Action Plan for 2023. There was a consensus change from last month about the Schedler Property plans since the last meeting in January. Those differences are described in the agenda topics below.
The OSC Action Plans centered on the next steps and assignment of Responsibility.
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
There was no public comment.
II. Review of January Meeting Notes
The meeting notes were accepted with the addition that Rob Lasky was present at the last meeting in January.
III. Schedler Property Update
a. The renovation of the house continues with progress being made to the infrastructure and to the electrical.
b. At the Village Council Meeting on January 25th, plans were shown and discussed reflecting different field configurations. There was much disagreement about the configurations of the field both during Public Comment and by the council. Public Comment supported a much smaller field and was mostly from the Schedler community while there was disagreement among the Village Council Members over the configurations of the field.
At the last OSC Meeting, before the councils meeting on the 25th, the consensus was to support a larger field configuration with no baseball. However, the introduction of the smaller field was somewhat of a surprise. It was then decided that in our advisory role that the OSC needed to make a statement of recommendation.
It was agreed that a larger multi-sport turf field with lights should be installed at Schedler. It was also agreed that the type of turf field should be investigated further to ensure it is environmentally sound. (No PFAS or PFOS chemicals.) The lights were also recommended to eliminate the noise that would be incurred from portable generators. Fred Jubitz will brief the council on our recommendation during the Public Comment portion of the next council meeting on the 22rd of February.
IV. Village Master Plan – Open Space and Recreation Action Plan Discussion
Pam put together a table detailing the 27-point Action Plan from the Ridgewood Master Plan (RMP). The table shows each action point and the progress and responsibility for each item. The list where changes were made at the meeting is shown on the addendum at the end of this meeting summary.
V. NJ Green Acres Diversion - Status
Progress continues to be made with Janet Fricke’s efforts in this area. She continues to jump through hoops with the state agencies.
VI. Event Participation
Daffodil Festival & Earth Day Fair – April 23st – Jim Bostler/Yu Sun will take care of our booth.
VII. New Business
No new business discussion currently.
Next Meeting: Open Space- Thursday, March 16th, 2023 at the Stable. – Time 7:00 PM
Date: February 16th, 2022
Submitted By: James Bostler – OSC Committee Secretary
ADDENDUM
IV. Village Master Plan – Open Space and Recreation Action Plan Meeting Discussion
Action Item
Point 3- Barbara may be the point person to conduct the review of priority parcels.
Point 4- A person needs to be designated that can gain consensus across different disciplines such as Parks and Recreation and any other areas that need to be involved. This person will then have to approach the PSE&G Green Project area about obtaining cooperation to develop the Right of Way as a walking trail. Maintenance, insurance, access and possibly bridges all need to be discussed. This needs to be added to the agenda for the Dual Meeting with Parks and Rec and the OSC.
Point 5 – Ongoing.
Point 11- A joint meeting needs to be set-up with the Historic Preservation Committee to discuss future plans. This will probably be a one-time annual event to inform each committee of their plans and to avoid any possible conflict of use or designation. This will avoid any confusion or conflicts about the use of properties such as has occurred with the designation of the entire Schedler Property as Historic and not just the Schedler House.
Point 12- The Adopt-a-Park program should be under the Parks and Recreation Board responsibility and not the OSC.
Point 17- The meetings with regional and neighboring municipality committee should also be across committees and needs to be developed further especially as it pertains to acquisitions and partnership opportunities.
Point 21-An annual tour to inventory potential new acquisitions, survey areas in need of stewardship and observe best usage for properties already acquired. Another area of broad involvement that a point person needs to be appointed to from the OSC.
Point 22 The development of a bicycle/pedestrian plan falls under the PRC.
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