all right I would like to bring the March meeting of the cranberry environmental commission to order and the first order of business is our Pledge of Allegiance I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to
the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all okay moving this way he keeps moving that way the flag yeah has legs all
right and we will do our statement oh here's Sten and okay pursuant to the open public meetings act notice of this meeting was sent to the cranberry press the Trenton Times and home News Tribune on January
3rd 2025 posted on the bulletin board posted on the Township's website and sent to those who requested a copy of this notice okay we're going to move to roll call John reinfelder here Dela
georgees here step heler here Gabe Letterman here okay uh Jason mberg here and Teresa varara here and Barbara Rogers is in attendance and so is Sally agre all right we have minutes I was not
at the February meeting uh but we have minutes and so take a quick look at the minutes or if you have comments or Corrections let us all know they look
fabulous all right seeing none uh the minutes come as a motion all in favor approving I was going to motion you're I'll vote all well I'll second the motion and then vote and then
vote I all right we have the minutes in all right so then we moving on to reports and I see Barbara is here should we you want to start with the township report [Music]
okay hello everyone great to see you all um so uh we just had our Township committee uh meeting uh the second Monday of the month and then I get to leaz on with you guys um just want to keep you a breast on the community
energy Grant um there the application has to be sub resubmitted on Save which is a Board of Public Utilities um portal and there's it's taken a little while but
now I have access finally so the due date was three weeks ago but they have extended it to those that's taken a while to get them on it so I I am going to um resubmit that since my name is on it um it's not like we're not going to
get it it's just that it has to go through this process of going into a different portal um and so you can still work on it it's not like it's not going to happen um uh uh at the township committee me uh meeting I got a verbal approval for the
Girl Scout um project uh in this exactly the signage um instead of the Girls Scouts coming back in and showing the sign uh they want to put a sign like the one that's um in the kiosk on Main Street um that uh Kona Eagle Scout
project so they were all for it so so Dela go ahead um and the and the group um a before I get to that um I think I said this I'm not sure if I
told this at the last meeting but the rain Garden was cleared by DPW but I um the rain Garden in Village Park but um I think in the spring I think it'd be really important for let's take a look at it and I think there will
be probably plenty of room for a volunteer group to go and help clean that out so if if you have some Scouts that might be interested um but let's go see it beforehand and see if there's work that needs to be done which I can't
imagine there wouldn't be um uh an Jack there are a couple of things coming up andj is the association for New Jersey environmental commissions um there's a whole bunch of um online um 18th 19th which is tomorrow the next day and the next day um EC commission
training fundamentals for Effective environmental commiss um Commissioners um you know storm water management local land use planning communication and Community engagement which kind and uh commission operatives what that means
but um operations operations I have a question are you members of the EC getting the emails about from anj because I did give them okay and so I wasn't clear because I can't see who they yes I'll be at the three trainings
as well um they're they're they're also going to be recording them so if you can't make the the live ones you can catch them up after that that's just good for me to know so I don't like I know and I was forwarding to you and I and then you said that you think you put them on the list and I guess they are on
the list so that's great um and they're free because we're members so um if you want to learn more about any of those topics or all of them I would highly suggest you go to that um and then also on anj news um the uh anj grants for EC
the deadline is May 12th yes yes it opened so it's up to $1,500 grants and um the Reinhardt property we used that Grant to do the um programming and uh
and the trail so that was years ago now but uh so um I think Dela you were thinking of for the school project so that'd be great um yeah so the other thing um I have on my list is that we had a a big
discussion with um the Helen Cody Foundation about Heritage Park and a um an art installation there and um it it it started with um the Helen Cody Foundation going to the parks but it's
really a gift from the Helen Cody foundation and the reason why I'm bringing this up it has to do with open space has to do with parks and um and the township committee is making a decision whether to accept the gift or not and we all were kind of on record uh
publicly uh of our thoughts and the process is still ongoing whether we're going to accept that gift or not for Heritage Park so um you know part of the thing is is um um there was Art put in there already but that was purchased by
the township committee and it was um a Parks initiative so there is Art in there now um you know what came up were some potential safety issues where his location is you know and for me I um I
think the process of like what gets to be placed in the park or not open space is so difficult to obtain and now what are we going to be putting in that open space um and um just I wanted to keep
you up to date on um you know thoughts about open space is there a description of this is there information about it yes and I meant to bring it to show you okay next time or you send it to us I'll send it to you yeah just so we have an
idea just so you have first I heard of it yeah yeah um so we have a couple weeks you know and I think in April by the time we want to decide what does it does it have to go to Heritage Park or uh does it have to go in Heritage part
that's where they're asking to put it because that's where the Helen uh Cody Foundation race starts okay so they feel that that's the location that would best match the reason for it so you know I I just I'm
always asking what's the plan for the park overall plan like are we going to put 10 in are we going to like where does you know so I'm always asking for when something goes into a park like Village Park or Heritage Park or
Millstone what is the overall plan for this you know for the park like are we G to have five different things in there you know like I I just to me that seems really important is what's the plan and um anyway
um so and so that's so that's that um you know and is there a process to accept gifts that's my other thing um and uh I
think oh um another thing is I'm people may have seen the pool Club being cleared out yeah uh the riparian zone is been cleared out just letting you know obliterated right what's that I said obliterated uh I didn't use that word
clearcut I just wanted to let you know definely was not clearcut I mean I think we trees were cut yeah but you know yeah um so the um so um it's really important that people
realize that there is a tree removal ordinance and that you know before any trees are taken down they need to go to the you know shade tree fill out an application and whatever we can do to spread that word is really important um
uh and then also there is a riparian Zone ordinance 150 feet um from this I think that's that that's the thing that the EC is historically been very protective of and so when I say obliterated I I remember how
uh how many times we discussed another property in town that had done quite a bit of clearing uh within the uh with within the reparan and how seriously we believe we took that at the time only to see it happen again on another private property um and
now it kind of looks like what is the reparan ordinance if all you have to do is ignore it right and uh it is in that so it is in the hands of the zoning officer you know and um you know um and
I'm not sure what the next steps are so I mean I'm not not sure but you know there are next steps that are happening yeah there's a tri there's a tributary to the millstone River there that you know is ephemeral but it
doesn't matter it's it's classified the same as the millstone because even though it's an unnam tributary and so it is covered by the ordinance The reparan Zone ordinance and that was not uh acknowledged Andor
abided by well I don't know you know whatever it is it's well it wasn't divided by clearly right the facts are on the ground right right yeah I I'm sorry yes right um you know and I don't know if you might want to have I I don't
know if the EC needs to write something to the township or that they acknowledge that there Z you know but it's I I think it's obvious yeah since the TC has already spoken of it right yeah it's been considered I don't I don't think there's any well it's not for us to
consider the zoning officer okay yeah either way yeah the town the town is aware everyone aware if they weren't aware yeah yeah similarly that property had also piled up tons of uh soil uh
within a within a flood zone which is in violation of H flood Hazard rules as well uh soil erosion uh settlement control rules um uh it it so that's twice the first
time everybody was okay with it I suppose the second time we might be okay with it again I guess we'll find out right yeah I just wanted to let you know you know I'm sure you were aware of it and that it's being taken care of by the township so yeah um and I just wanted to
bring up this uh tree removal ordinance and how important that is you know if if you do see people taking down trees and remind them or if they talk to you about wanting to take down trees to make sure they fill out the shape
tree and I think that's it any questions I have a quick question um did the TC or has it I don't know who would have discussed this but I saw on on Facebook um someone taking pictures of like a water leakage by like the Amazon
warehouse and people discussing that did anyone see that post on about cranberry there was some sort of like leage on the street by the warehouse that went on for days and days and days and then it was like at one
point might have been sewage and then it was like very upsetting um and I figured that seems like a something we might talk about so I didn't know if it was already on someone's radar and already believe it was a private water main break that went unchecked for a little
bit of a period of time at one of the warehous houses that caused that flooding yeah oh okay yeah I I I'm not on Facebook that much you know you might want to send something to the administrator count you
unless it's it's been taken care of I'm not sure so okay thank you very much we the the DRC was uh going to meet
but the developer had to postpone it and I don't know when the next I don't know if we're going to be meeting on that particular subject next but hence no report specifically was
there anything at the planning board there was very long discussion about uh relocating or creating some additional truck parking or trailer parking at the Amazon warehouse it did not have an environmental component to it but was
uh um it was a long evening um and uh the develop uh well the owner was uh sent back to reconter and they sure surely be back in about two months all right thank you very much can
I just say one thing on that when I was at the that was report meeting like when they were doing the zoning I the planning board uh the Aon I was just wondering
like why can't they use some of the parking potentially for when trying when um trucks are idling I know it wasn't specifically for that purpose it was for empty trucks but that was my suggestion you know like there's trucks all over
the road waiting for their spot you know that was part of the concern that we brought up as it had been reported previously that there was idling outside the property right and um by freeing up additional room in the back of the property where the trucks are currently
permitted um that it would only encourage more trucks to uh enter the facility even though they claimed that it was only for trailer keeping and uh so we we asked them for additional uh traffic uh traffic impact statement uh
regarding what what this new uh change to their uh facility would bring um and apparently originally um it was brought up that in the original um approval that they were supposed to return to do uh to
re-evaluate their traffic impact statement originally when they opened the third uh building in the three Warehouse development that Amazon is in so that that apparently didn't occur either I don't know if it did or didn't I certainly haven't been around long
enough to know um but uh it's something that we're expecting to see is a you know an updated traffic impact statement as part of their uh their proposal yeah it I mean it's a real issue these the trucks hanging by the side of the road
and right you know waiting for their time slots is basically the reasoning it's a yeah it's just Amazon it's all you know I mean it happens everywhere yeah I know unfortunately alrighty so I think we're up to Parks and
Recreations if you that was the planning board yes check I'm Sally o' Grady uh the L on between parks and wck and environment and I have a little more information on
the Cody statue um Helen was really into origami cranes and so this statue was going to be have a lot of or of origami cranes on it in a metal and they had someone that they designed it and Parks was all for it so we're hoping that it
gets passed through the TC um I think with the three sculptures there already adding another one is just enhancing it the park having a different sculpture there and it was really really meaningful to Helen and to her family um then I there was really not too much
that we discussed at our meeting that was new but I had a question about the followup on trail cleanup have you done anything else with the trail cleanup days and I'd kind of like just you know maybe see that stay on your agenda Trail maintenance I see that's down there so
um and then um the other thing that we had talked about before was the maintenance of the sidewalk along Old Cranberry Road and Barbara was going to ask TC about that and I was wondering whether anything had happen with that I inquired whether the town has more of
that gravel you know it's the fine gravel I did not hear back I don't know if you know anything about that but we can discuss it later if I find out that the town does not have that then I'm going to ask the town to First really
maintain that because it's really a kind of a sidewalk so I'm going to ask the town if they can fix that it and so I was there this morning again and the problem also is it's low and so after the rain it basically that part of it
and it's not a very long piece it's a very it's a relatively short piece that needs fixing uh where where the where the vegetation has come through but it's too it's low so it needs to be upgraded because it it becomes a puddle and
probably people have seen that so those are the things and you know we'll see how I do with the town in terms of okay you know them taking ownership of it as a sidewalk which I think it really is it really was is not part of the The
Preserve there but we'll see we'll see how that goes do you wantan do you want to call it a sidewalk because that has Ada implications whereas a side path is allow a side path okay I'd use that I stand corrected side path side path
thank you um the side path issue little that makesense yeah most of it's fine I walk the whole thing you know I don't know needs to be done it does it need additional stone dust and to just be
upgr need to be upgraded so you need to put gr you know like yeah dig out about I think I like 20 meter 20 yards 30 yards of the path from the parking lot needs to
be like gravel needs to a base needs to has it has it kind of silted in why would you dig it out instead of just adding more material uh you could add more material I guess I feel like I mean this is not my expertise I'm
I'm thinking out loud it's too low it could add I guess you could add it a lot and and bring it up but it's still kind to be yeah you you may have to take it out and put in a larger aggregate underneath and then put the stone dust back on top that's what I was thinking a
larger coarser thing yeah so that the water doesn't just that path is no different than a lot of the bite shared use pets uh Union Transportation Trail if you've been down there Shon Station Road or trying to think of any others that I
uh come across plenty but yeah it um stone dust has a tendency to kind of melt it turns into goo when it gets really wet for a long period of time well that's that's another yeah and it's it's it's you know it's not a huge
length as I said most of it is fine but um that part is wet and vegetation has now well we always we always search uh for places uh when we're identifying our budget and uh projects and that certainly could be something that we
could add for next year uh to acquire the material and work with uh um our Public Works to uh reconstruct it exactly exactly right so well along those lines Parks has been trying for years to get the low spots in Heritage
Park on that trail and um apparently an engineer has looked and said there's absolutely no way they can be fixed which I I don't understand but they're they're you know again there anytime there's was the whole Trail is blocked today as we walked it with the puddle
um but the town has said there's nothing that can be done so good luck with this one I mean any other questions for parks that we didn't have anything new did we Donna
no thank you all right thank you all right so we have a b you know our items in Old business the adopt a catch Basin I have nothing to report right now okay uh we
have I know signs have gone up on the community wildlife habitat anything else we should be considering uh yeah we had discussed potentially like offering some sort of like promo code to the town um we looked through like the legality and
like the fairness of that and it is unfair to because we can't get it out to everybody like how do you do a first come first serve so I think we're just kind of back to square one which just we're continuing to do community outreach and including it in um
periodically in the mayor's letter and that type of thing so I worked with Barbara on a couple of little blurbs kind of like TS the season T spring some things to think about um and then always referring people to the informational part of the website so that there isn't
any like undue pressure to like purchase or buy anything it really has to be their own decision so it's more kind of in information about why planting native is important why thinking about making those types of decisions in your in your backyard are important but then it's up to you to whether or not you would like
to certify um there are was also kind of talk of potentially um in the the vein of community outreach having um Master Gardener speakers come to the Cranberry Public Library and potentially fulfilling requirements for a
sustainable Jersey or one of the certifications that we need to do um I saw the requests come through already from the Cranberry Public Library through our Master Gardener system that they would like um in the first weekend of May the first week of May uh a
vegetable gardening presentation so that seems to be a topic that the Cranberry Public Library was interesting in hosting a Master Gardener for so I threw my name in the Hat to be like you know scheduled to do that presentation we'll see I asked them if they have slides so you're a master gardener I'm as an
intern we can already start doing yeah so they yeah they're changing their their system and they're just like go for it so I'm like okay I'm like I know the town I know the space I could do it if you guys give me a deck I will just read from the deck I know a little bit
we're learning no it's and and the library was they wanted like a vegetable what did they ask for they asked for presentation on like vegetable gardening so like raised beds vegetable gardening like backyard gardening that type of thing um so I don't know that it's confirmed just yet uh I'll be at the
earth center on Wednesday following up on on those things um so yeah any other topics um let me know and I will I can help facilitate that there's like a speaker request form and it can range from a table or a presentation or like a
workshop um depending on the topic so um we are at your disposal when it comes to that kind of thing when it comes for a community outreach um one other I'm think if there was anything else yeah I I feel like I tried I've been trying to follow up with the
township on what it would cost to send a mailer and how we get access to addresses and like I haven't really heard back that's been kind of a hard topic to follow up with because I kind of get bounced from like the tax
person I've left a couple messages and just not really knowing who if anyone knows Joanne charwin apparently she's done it before and I just don't know her email address I might just have to like Google stock her and like find her on the internet um because I feel like
someone mentioned that she did a mailer for for municipal Alliance so she might know the steps bureaucratically of like how to make that happen and like what it costs and that kind of thing um because again for for things like Trail
maintenance commun all of these great initiatives adop a catch Basin all the things that we sort of like we want to have in people's minds yeah how do you reach the people well you reach half of them with the email and the other half yeah the other half mayor's letter I have seen an uptick on our the third
half yeah I have seen an uptick on the cranberry Gardens for wildlife Facebook page I feel like it was just like crickets and now it has like a 100 views or something so there you go it's you do yeah that's good too I can always just text her just give it out yeah just hand
it out to everyone don't don't speak it out out loud don't speak it there's a fly that goes in the tax yes that's the one I'm trying to get my ducks in a row for and I'm like oh I'm running out of time yeah it hasn't it hasn't even
started formulating yet okay so um thank you you you worked on the one yes I remember doing the tri did yeah yes but like I didn't I feel like it we designed it and then I didn't know like how the how who had the address says who filled the envelopes who got the postage you
know all that one of the ways that you could do an Outreach is by having a blurb in there yeah so instead of doing a separate mailer by yourself like you know and taxpayers money going towards that you could probably piggy back onto
that okay yeah who's leading that this I will let you know when that happens because that's July okay yes yes yes yes yes we're in March um the other part is I wanted to get back to that blur yes um
so Dela put together a blur but there was one little section in there about compost and picking up compost in Jamesburg yeah and so not a go that's not happening no so if if you could just change that out and put something else in and then we could put it in the next
mayor's update so then at least we have we have something going out in um in April or end of March wait what we yeah it be the end of March oh perfect yeah so let's just we just clean up that then you're already getting something out
there okay um so I think it's great you know to have orderly something if possible for e or twice a year even yeah great yeah that's great okay um with the Outdoor Classroom because it is kind of
related to the certification if we get it done we'll get Five Points um toward certification um I chatted with the some uh climatologists from Ruckers and one and John cting who used to be on EC they
gave me some great feedback on what the like weather station should look like and actually kind of a cheaper alternative to having the board the board we could still do the board but that's it's more of like a visual decorative engaging thing if we really wanted the kids to do like real science
he kind of pointed me in direction of certain instruments that we could use like a very particular rain gauge and then um a science project like a citizen science project that the school could be involved in um so I thought that was really great feedback because that might save us some bucks and maybe we kind of
Cobble together our own Weather Station instead of investing you know a for some reason school Furniture is so expensive for no reason um so I was excited by that because that would sort of help with the big ask um Home Depot
donated uh almost 30 bags of or organic natural undyed mulch for the native plant garden bed um the Boy Scouts on Sunday helped take apart the the raised bed that was there that was kind of rotting away and was Full Of Weeds they
helped me pull that out we laid a first layer of mulch I laid a second layer of mulch today because we needed more mulch um and yeah so that was great um the plant should go in sometime in May when they're ready so that'll be the first step of the Outdoor Classroom is getting
that native plant garden bed in the ground um and I'm meeting with Dr dler on Thursday to walk through the space with um Noel Kenny to talk about like what we might paint how we might want to lay out sort of like the interior design
of all the kids stuff in there um so taking steps but it's there will be something there for the fall which is exciting it's kind of the first thing that's going in um and then depending on uh what funds come through from our budget request some sort of like
exploratory Corner that might have like a magnifying glass a weather station like a bug hotel that type of thing yeah a little science Corner we were approved budget wise we were yay but I have to I I have it on a
spreadsheet on my computer so I have to sure sure sure you know get that yeah and I'll get you as and then the project has evolved so I'll get you sort of like where we are now with our selection of things right that we've had but it's awesome I mean sounds like you know it's happening yeah it's not just the dream
is coming through fantastic yeah yeah that was it thank you thank you I did want to pick up I mean we're on to The Preserve preserves and um I I noticed there was a discussion
again last time when I wasn't here again about the pin oos and trash cans and stuff like that and um I was so I did go to pin oaks this morning I tend I have to go to Reinhardt because there's bunch of signs and blazes that need to go up Etc
um was there any consensus about trash cans or not I mean oh oh that's right I'm looking at G but because just because it is something that you
know the town has to then manage um but I I don't I would just like to get a sense of what was discussed um we had been talking about like one at the parking lot so it
doesn't have to be throughout the trail at all it's just a lot of people hang they just hang there and create a lot of garbage and it just ends up in the Stream and all over the place so it
would be more work for DPW I don't think it would be that much more work for DPW if it was just one so uh EC will contact DPW that was not me I guess so I mean is that sort of the
what at the entrance at the parking area the par area that makes the most sense obviously yeah I wasn't think I wasn't thinking inside yeah it doesn't have to be much just yeah something or even so when they come out they can throw their beer I mean soda bottles into that's right or they Min liquor bottles or you
know curbing their dogs and having a put so I was there this morning only one beer bottle this morning I was there this morning one only one I was pretty good I felt pretty good about that there was other stuff so slow weekend I think the rain damp damp people were saving up for St Patrick I don't know maybe it all washed away um but you know yeah but
I've been in so last year in the spring cleanup a subset of us did pin Elk's Trail you know and and when you walk in that first you know 10 20 yards both sides have a ton of stuff let's put it that
way um so maybe some of the stuff would end up in a can well and even when I walk I tend to pick up trash and I I do I'm the same way most of the time I have a bag in my pocket but there are
many times I don't and having one there I could you know it would be helpful okay so I guess that that is an item that I is the protocol I go directly to the
DPW okay I don't want to like channels and all that he laughs okay so that's good so that that clarifies that but I think we'll you know pin oaks is the main one I think the others are not so uh the
others you walk I mean pin OES you hang you fish got it you hang with your buddies you might walk your dog it's a hang spot it's a hang spot and so it generates trash got it so
that's the one that's really critical okay so that's good that clarifies that um the other things I have to do I have sign as I said signs and blazes for Reinhardt I have blazes for unami and
the Brook Trail I forget what that one is officially called and then um but let me know if there are other issues in terms of the time in the
spring um you know to have a g a joint Parks EC trail and I think it's going to be in mainly because they they grow extensively you know April May I don't
know what what do you think on that do you have thoughts on that or timing or should I just propose something it could possibly be um combined with stream cleanup I don't want to take away from stream cleanup so the only thing often there's
so many people that you know some of them could just go with garbage bag but also take Clippers on on the trails yeah we could we could do that um the thing is we're having also and when we get to the well cleanups right there um we're
having this presentation oh that's the day before Oh that's gonna be Friday it's a different day it's a different day it's on Friday afternoon um they'll be presenting to the Girl Scouts from kindergarten to fourth grade so we merged all a bunch of
the truths from ail 11th Friday April 11th okay okay that's very helpful then so then I mean the only thing was this you know okay the the ones that need massive
pruning are Reinhardt and and pin oaks sort of in the beginning um I don't think the brook will be heavily overgrown by then because
I I did a little pruning um but eventually it will but those two the thing about splitting apart is I don't want the mission to get all diffused I mean what do people think about that well I was going to ask to that extent the older girl scouts I would say like third fourth graders they
want to participate in like the cleanup this year and I didn't know if there was like a loc on the 12th on the 12th on the 12th the older troop yeah I mean there is stuff to do okay certainly pins I mean there were cinder blocks I couldn't get at I mean there's stuff so you would have them meet at Pino would
you I was going to ask because we're kind of in newer locations this time around I wanted to know where to send them well we're still we're still all meeting in the Village Park okay still on meeting and then we'll we're going to send most people behind to crur Brook
Downstream of the road and then um a sub set to pins so basically split okay um where it is it's it's right wi yeah where where it is is at at on both sides of the
bridge for some reason people well that's that's what we did last yeah that's what we want to do this year is send people the pin oaks cuz both sides of the bridge and then up the trail 30 yards on both sides once
you get past people don't go that far to with their trash for some reason um but would we want to split it if anybody's walking the other place I do see trash is near the storm drains it's like cars drive by and they try and get their
trash in storm trees on Old cranberry oh on all the roads yeah yeah well I mean specifically on Old cranberry where's the storry oh we've mapped them there's
about um yeah trust me mapping them and not having a bag with all the trash there was very difficult for me but it's not near the it's not really near the bridge no but it's the storm drains yeah which goes directly into so that could
be part of it but we could have I mean the pinu uh group could do pruning you know they could go a little further and do a little pruning but it won't be April 12th it's not going to be it's really May June is when it needs it
so it may not be the best time so I think we should think May June maybe for this like no it would be nice it for the record I think it would be nice if it
were a separate thing so that people really appreciate our Trails there's so many people that don't know that we have these trails and it you know I that's what I think and later in the summer of course you don't want it to be too hot
but um I like that I like separate and maybe it's the kind of thing where we do you know Reinhardt Brook preserve pin oaks see how that works and then the other one are we just start with one
exactly start with start with one and everybody and see what kind of that's it grouping you get if you get a great grouping then on that particular day you can say Okay since we have so many of you would so would some of you be willing to go to another one and and you
know no I mean I mean I'm what I I guess I didn't make it clear what I meant was on separate days you know start with one on one day and then like as exactly as you said oh in two weeks why don't we meet at the
next one or something like that okay so but I think May is probably the earliest we want to do that end of May middle May what do you I'll look at the vegetation that's good okay miday early
June okay that'll be a separate event um okay stream clean up okay so I think the stream cleanup I I noticed that the the thing I put is still being posted every email it's there so hopefully people are getting that through
email um so that's good Barbara reported on the energy plan I mean basically we're just going to wait and then finish this process and then we have our priorities and so we want we next step
is community feedback on the priorities that we came up with okay um it says that you discussed goals was there any real discussion any comments questions sorry we we added a few did
you add goals yes we did did you inform the chair I personally did not then they don't count send me send me anything that was please send me anything I can
add you gave your paper away maybe we have okay we will find those we'll find those okay there's Jason's want to know about the additional goals yeah okay
so um excuse me so under the uh first goal that was initially identified on the sheet of paper here uh work with the township to maintain trails and signage and cranberries Open Space
Preserve um you know what uh we added a goal to add rules for enjoyment including or for example leashing dogs uh cleaning up kind of stuff I added cleaning up but that was the Same Spirit as leashing dogs okay
so the you know that the you know the cranberry Brook preserve has that big sign with all the with all the rules on it do they all like does pin they do not all they do not all so it really maybe they should right so I think
it's making signs for the other preserves sort of thing I sent some examples and some like prices of like what signage looks like that was like kind of fits the vibe it seems like the signs that all the different places are
like brown and yellow so I tried to find like brown signs that just like fit the look but I you know it was a shot in the dark I was just having fun researching you guys tell me what it's supposed to look like I know synchronicity of aesthetic design of signages is like
important so and cost is also and also and also but I have a l you know a laminated version of the of the rules that's a smaller
version of it that could easily be posted in all of the other preserves but it's not gorgeous or anything so what we can I'll bring it next time we can think about that but anyway that's a goal is to add rules signs to the other
preserves to the other preserves to other preserves resarch yeah yeah and then uh second one we kind of went through a couple times already here uh regarding
the community energy plan um third one uh we modified that to be study and possibly start adopt a catch Basin Initiative for cranberry residents instead of studying it we've been doing that for a while so we thought we'd
uh modify it all righty uh going down the list uh not everybody has it so I'm going to go ahead and um we had continue to promote the uh Community wildlife habitat certification program Town
residents uh nothing's changed there participate in Watershed institutes annual stream clean up on Saturday April 12 nothing's changed um provide guidance to DRC planning board and Zoning Board of adjustment on environmental matters as
needed nothing's changed uh provide guidance to the township on the environmental impact of proposed ordinances That Remains the Same uh provide Environmental Education to the public via cranberry day the
health and wellness fair and other presentations at Cranberry Public Library and cranberry School uh we uh I guess ianded on that to say uh support and provide Environmental Education at
cranberry School in form of oci and other initiatives now I don't remember what oci is oh yeah what is ooc Outdoor Classroom oh oh Outdoor Classroom initiative I've never seen it abbreviated that way I had throw that around I'm always saying your
mouthful so I made an abbreviation then forgot what it ni yeah cool okay okay so um then we uh also added to the list recertify for sustainable Jersey doing
summer of 2025 um like what no just like not it re recertify recertify and then uh oversee rain Garden
maintenance I didn't come up with these on my own um I'm glad somebody was a group effort a group effort for sure and then somewhere along the line in our conversation we brought up the Alfred me award for middle school and I
don't remember the context in which that is but that is I guess always a goal yeah I think we were talking about our partnership with the school and I think I mentioned something like oh the EC might be present for things like when the second graders do the Arbor Day
celebration like Kathy Easton goes um representing shade tree yeah yeah yeah so I feel like Kathy was like yeah Dolph come on along and I'm like yay I get to go I'm just as a mom I just get to see it because she's
in second grade this year um but then I think I was also talking about the the chips starting an award or something and then someone was like oh EC has an award I was like they do for who what when where and then we didn't really have in
details oh about the me award yeah oh yeah that's a longstanding awesome awesome um we used to the EC used to choose the winner okay now the school has a committee they do it internally and we just present them
and there's money how much did they give because I feel like I was trying to gauge how much that we would give the same from chips or something similar years ago maybe we chose preco
yeah I feel like part of it but I've have not been around that long have I I I presented the very first award I presented the very first wow yeah because it started when I was Al last night but um that it was a great honor I
think that more than initiative so yeah well I think it should be it could be goal to still like we know we're going to get that one this is loow hanging fruit to yeah but I feel like if like a like a
resident is like reading like what what does the EC even do Contin right it shows how like the connection to the community and the support of certain topics I just want to address the sustainable Jersey it's you know up
there and we got a silver three years ago and um Teresa and I have been doing this for how many years so I am not doing it this year so um I am happy to teach someone
else to do it um but I'm tired of it and one of the reasons and I have spoken to sustainable Jersey is I really am pretty adamant about small towns versus big towns and the threeyear cycle like the
threeyear cycle is so onerous on small towns we don't have the professionals to help us put it together so I have told them that and I told them I'm I'm on strike because of that um and I I just it's it's an owner thing and I told them
if we're working on that then other priorities don't get worked on you know because volunteers only have a certain amount of time and um you know if they could do small towns four years you know or something like that and Big Towns three years whatever to be honest that
you put in a tremendous amount of effort as Teresa has as well uh doing this um because it seems as though the time as soon as you learn that you've been certified you start working towards your certification anything you know and it's
uh perhaps it's better to put your effort into action than it is to collect and document things that have already been done within the town that would earn you that certification and sometimes paperwork for paperwork sake it should be a crime
yeah yeah and perhaps your energies are better spent elsewhere and well then that's what I just wanted to let you know like if that is a goal I mean what is really amazing about sustainable Jersey is How Great
Cranberry really does on a lot of these things and sustainable Jersey does guide you to that next level like I would never know about this community energy plan it was sustainable Jersey so there is a real value to be part of sustainable Jersey it's the um you know
it's the constant every three years of collecting it and pushing it together that is really difficult yeah I I mean with with so many ways to document what you do and what needs to be done perhaps you know their documentation doesn't need to be so onerous from year to year the fact
that you've already looked into the energy program it should be able to click a box and then click another box to say when you finished your application right I mean do do you really need to stack the papers yeah and that's like and you know we do get a lot of help from like you
know each one of the commissions and you know and and we do get help from the township but it's it's Teresa you know I do know and I thought very long and hard about whether or not to add it to the goals I do think
it does have a lot of benefit it does absolutely so what I was thinking is we don't have to go for silver I know but it's really great to see a little star by your name on The Bu I know it does but it's better than not
being there yeah and I we got the silver that was when I was mayor and that was a real a real initiative and a a circle bandwagon circle around the bandwagon thing um but there needs to be a real leader at that top to G Silvers bronze I
think is just a you know a checkpoint yeah I mean at this point we have 50 points that are still active we need 150 for bronze and 350 for silver oh gosh so
I think we could get very easily the next hundred for I mean you get 10 points for having a green team you get 10 points for having an environmental commission you get 10 points for I know something really I mean it's
things that you that kind of thing I mean we all we need is just you know the next so I think what we could do is get our feet wet and and go back and
just get bronze so that we stay in the system we wouldn't have gotten the community um energy plan Grant really without being a part of it so we lose opportunities we lose the
networking I don't mind stepping up and at least going for bronze down the mic and then thank youut and then
um everything that that is set this year carries over for next year so then we've got another year to finish going for the the silver if we want to I mean bronze you
know bronze Keeps Us in the system is there any shame in being bronze bronze is I mean I mean Silver's nice still a metal Silver is nice I mean honestly I mean I will I will I'm a
fighter I persevere I've gotten the school silver twice right that's a separate one yes yeah luckily off
year um that's next year um but yeah so this is the last year for ER well this year it it still holds this year well I I would say if somebody is
going to Champion that and I will champ that's fabulous and um you know but I will be calling call in you for no but we need resolutions and
resolutions so yeah the um because we are going to be doing this energy thing which is a little amorphus on getting the feedback and so forth but I think that would be be good all right so um goals updated so
we'll keep that on the list take this back there you go I need Sor there you go this goes back into the archives all right sorry um great good because that was I missed that meeting there's the
Bell um I did have one other thing oh no what was it see that's the thing too many things maybe it's on my list no all right we I know okay you mentioned the
uh the applications for the grants but are they going to be okay for the for this the school garden it didn't just reading between reading this it
wasn't clear that that would fit their criteria yeah um the anj grant I'm not super sure because there wasn't really a category for like classroom Vibe it was more for like
specifically a pollinator go garden and since I'm already I already have the mulch and the plants donated it is technically a pollinator Garden I don't know if there is um a limit on the side if you're gonna put pollinator in there
yeah maybe you could okay I have to kind of read it and see and see sort of like what their reporting is like and if I I don't know I have to see sort of like how yeah just email them okay i' had been waiting for it to come online and I I kept checking the website earlier in the year and it
wasn't up yet okay yeah that's sharing costs okay I think that is it with old business is there any new business seeing none public has
commented is there a motion to adjourn second second all in favor I see you next month I didn't think we were going to make it then