All right. Hello everyone. Today is June 18, 2025. We are here for a meeting of the Cranberry Township Parks and Recreation Commission. Let us begin with the pledge of allegiance. I pledge to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic
for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. All right. Can we have our statement of adequate notice, please? 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. All right, let us have a roll call for attendance and report of volunteer
hours. Okay. Uh Christine Fatikus is excused. Brendan Hansen, present five hours. Uh Katie Harmon, present two. Kelly Lavy, present two and a half.
Okay. Omar Malden Uden here two. Sally O'Grady present five. Okay. Deepo and Fallon are excused and Michael present one. All right. We have a quorum. Uh our
minutes from our May 21st meeting. If there are no corrections or objections, I would entertain a motion and a second to adopt uh the minutes. Is there such a motion or such a uh correct? I did I did make it a change. I
don't know if people noticed that, Donna. It's in these minutes and it was um it said under environmental commission that I had made a a motion to put signs in all three parks and she
left it that and I added with the stipulation that the EC is to pay for the signs. So, that's different than the original ones that came out. All right, that looks fine to me. Anyone else?
Is there a motion? I move to approve the May 21st minutes. Thank you, Sally. Is there a second? I second it. All right, the motion has been made and seconded. Can we have a roll call, please? Brendan, yes. Katie, yes. Kelly, yes.
Omar, yes. Sally, yes. And Michael, yes. All right, moving right along. We have our reports. Let's begin with our recreation director, uh, Ken Jacobs. Okay, thank you. Um,
we don't really I don't really have anything from public works. Um, tennis court update. It is it has been paved. So now it has to sit for a few weeks before they can then come back and do the rest of the project. So that is
moving along. Um the pavilion roof we actually just sent the purchase order out today to the contractor. They're hopefully going to come in tomorrow. they said to get the permit to do the work and
hopefully soon after that it'll be done. So that is moving along as well. Um the field hockey camp we went back and forth again and it I mean at this point it's most likely
too late for us to try to do it. I've gone back and forth with the instructor. I I think both all of those sports camps that we were talk I was talking to the um school employees about running should
be uh good to go for next year for sure but this year it's not going to happen. Um summer camp the already the first week of camp cut off has passed so our
numbers are what they are. Um, offhand I don't have them in front of me, but uh we have probably close to 40 in the senior camp and probably around 30 for the junior camp and a few for the
little tikes. Um, so we are we're now in the process of, you know, finalizing all the trip purchase orders, uh, getting all the staff paperwork, uh, in before they start and, um, you
know, still there's still a lot of a lot of work to be done before we open up camp on the 30th. Um very briefly, can I ask um how many hires were there made for the
summer camp? So we hired two counselors and two CITs this year. Uh the CI we had two CITs move up to counselors positions from last year and we hired two other st uh counselors and
we had two new CITs this year. So is is that that's total or new new new highest. All right. So that is um okay and um
I have heard murmurings in the community that there were not a lot a lot which was not quantified other than that that there were not a lot of hires from cranberry and that may I imagine be merely a function of the fact that there were not a lot of new hires period.
Period. Yeah. Right. Correct. Um, I mean, typically we have a CIT program, right, for the in the hopes that we they move the next when they're eligible to move into the counselor's position. That's what they do. We usually have
three or four CITs. Um, last year we had two that were eligible to move up. So, we had we only had four people not come back from last year. So, um, that's that's a pretty good ratio. We've we have several staff members that started
working as CITs when they were 16 and now they're in their early 20s, mid20s. In fact, we have one uh girl that's been working at camp and she's I think 30 and she's been working there for so long.
She's our assistant camp director. But um it just shows we we try to you know in fill in with people who can then take you know positions as they become available. Even even our like director type uh positions. We have like a arts
and crafts director. We have sports director. We have an assistant camp director. We have a director for the little tes. So we try to keep them uh keep everything so we can just promote from within and hire um you know when we
can um and typically they are cranberry residents. Excellent. Uh is that it uh for for does anyone have any questions for Ken on Ken's report? Sally? Yes. Um is there any word on the fireworks band
and the change of location? That was something you were going to look into last time. So, I spoke with the fire official and she says that it has to stay where it is and the time because of the how the the traffic works, they have to leave certain areas open at a certain time for emergency
vehicles. So, she said that other than that, it's got to stay where it is. So, the fireworks ban is going to stay at the gazebo. And is the time going to be any later then? No, because they need that space open for DPW and everybody else to come through. But if they moved
it to the pavilion, could it be later? Couldn't it? Because that whole area gets roped off. Okay. Prior to that. So, they kind of open it up, let the band in, close it off, and then open it back up for them to leave. uh the water bottle filling station at
Heritage still on the the last time I talked to public works about that they said that they will do it but it's going to be when they can get to it because
finding a a plumber to do this has been a very difficult task. I mean, Donna will speak to, you know, back me up on that. Um, and and she'll even tell you that I had a conversation with Jerry and she was there and he said that we could
do it. We'll do it and we'll we'll do it when we can, probably in the fall. So, well, I just um I think it's important that this has been on we've had this thing for years and I would really like to see it made
known to DPW that it's a priority. Um, you know, if they could not pick up leaves for one week or something. This is really important. We've been working on this for years and it's just sitting there. I understand.
I will I will attempt to work with him to get it done sooner. Also, I had reported that the musical piece was missing from Heritage Park and that as as of two days ago, that's still missing. So, they haven't put that back again yet.
Okay. And the kite is still in the tree, but it's hard to see. It doesn't bother me. It doesn't bother me. I'm just reporting. I can't get to that. I hope they don't. But let's just Can we cross that off the list, Brandon? That's That's to me that's You can't even see it now with the leaves around it. But
those leaves will fall off again. By then the kite will be rotten and fall off. There you go. Art. Yeah. Art. So that that I think the most important thing is the water bottle station and um in
heritage. Thank you. All right. Um if there's nothing from anyone else, let's move on to our uh park preserve updates. if there's anything to report from any if anyone has anything to report.
Sally, please. Uh DPW did plant uh annuals at the entrance to Heritage Park. Um and apparently as they were planting, someone walked their dog right through the middle of it. So, they were frustrated and they put cones and do not cross tape. I don't know what how that's
going to stop anybody, but and I don't it it it doesn't look good either. So, I don't know the purpose of that, but um and um when we get to the trail maintenance, where is that further down? Uh that's not as a separate item. So,
you Okay. So, we had the trail maintenance day, which was the national trail day. It was not last Saturday but the Saturday before and six people attended, six residents attended and we made a huge difference on Reinhardt and
I actually uh spoke to someone since then, a perfect stranger who happened to be in my garden and she said that she takes her dog through there and she noticed it was great. Um so we worked really hard. Um that is fantastic. They really that spot
really needed it. That's where I get my hours. So, we're going to try to we're going to do it again next year and we'll see whether it's the same trail or another trail and we really hope to get more people. Um cuz the more the more ants the busier we can be and get more
cut down. Um, I think that's all I have for anyone else have anything to report on their parks and preserves in their walkabouts town or I don't have anything to report but when I my first week here we talked
about the fountain at the park and the the the heritage park actual fountain already there. Yes. Because we talked about something going up on top. It's just been sitting there. Does anything gone on with that? Yeah, it works. Oh, is it working? Yes, it's it's working now. It's on and working and it they
cleaned it. It looks great. Good. Yes. All right. If there is nothing, let us move nothing further there. Let's move on to report. Uh environmental commission report. Uh Sally, I believe you attended. Yes, I did. I saw you on the video. And did I do Okay. I just I
actually didn't see you on the video. I saw you on the thumbnail of the video on the YouTube page. Um so not much is going on with them. They are also not meeting in July. Um they
I told them about our motion and passing of the approving of the signs and they said that they will definitely pay for the application so that we can become an environmentally sensitive area or whatever it's called. I I don't have the
wording in front of me, but um and now they want to look into how much the signs cost. There are different signs, different levels. Some of them are metal and you stick in the ground. Others are little flags that you put in. I'm concerned any of those will disappear. I
think if if if and we told them we didn't really want a sign and they tried they told us that this is different than any other sign because instead of saying what you can't do, this is saying this is a this is an environmentally friendly area. So they thought that that would be
a good thing to have in the parks. I thought if we did have it that we should have it attached to the signs at the beginning of the park that the big one that says village park or the big one that says Heritage Park similar to the new signs that just came in the town and
they they didn't really care as long as we accepted. But I they're going to so they're going to look into signs. definitely going to apply for it for us and they're definitely going to pay for that so that our parks will become do you remember the the term it's some sort of um wildlife certified wildlife
habitat. Yes. And that helps with becoming a sustainable jersey or something. So So they're going to do that and then they're going to at the next meeting which um will be in September because I can't be in the July. They'll tell us unless can anybody go to the July environment meeting?
I cannot go. I think I can I'll take a look at my calendar. Okay. Um yeah, I I can't go and I also won't be here in the July meeting. So, but I that's pretty much all that uh we talked about trail maintenance day and how it was a success. Um
let's see where is my agenda from EC. Yeah, that was really all I had to say from them. All right. Oh, wait a minute. One more thing. We are getting Thursday, tomorrow, brand new recycling
buckets, baskets, bins, whatever you call them. They are going to be similar to the garbage can ones where the arm picks them up. Sorry, Sally. What? By we, you mean the parks and the entire town. Oh, the Okay. You will have one delivered to your house.
You can no longer use your old buckets as of August 1st. So, I'm not sure whether I think there must be another recycle in in yeah, June and July. There are other recycles starting August 1st. You have to use and um we're going to get a mailing that Donna is going to
send out and that's going to tell us um what to do with the old ones, what we can and can't recycle. They can take more, but everything goes in the same one. And I just have Donna gave me the information. It's going to be mailed. Um, a lot more things you can take and
you can't if I I would pass it around, but you're going to get it in the mail very soon. So, but that was a that was kind of a big thing that they discussed that um we will all be getting these new receptacles. Thank you. Excellent. Um, mine is very
old, my old receptacle and cracked. Um, so I'll see if I You can recycle it by putting it in the new bucket. Good. Excellent. Um, shade tree commission. I have not uh been in good in much contact with them.
Uh there was an issue that was flagged to me about whether or not a tree in Heritage Park may need to come down. A tree near where the proposed planned site of the Cody Foundation um memorial
monument sculpture sculpture, excuse me. Um but I don't know more about that. So we will wait to hear on that. Um township committee report. Thank you. Um, so nice to be in a safe space.
Lovely. Um, very briefly before I forget. So, as far as the um question of the Helen Cody sculpture, so if you guys recall where that sculpture is, it's sort of in a triangular shape. Um, sorry, sorry to interrupt. It is, um, can you get a little bit closer to the
mic? I just want to make I mean, we can all hear you in the room, but I want to make sure it's heard it's on. So um where the Helen Cody uh sculpture is to be placed it's sort of in a a triangular section of of greenery trees surrounding
it. The tree at the apex where the um the fork in the path. Yeah. Um that tree was supposedly according to shade tree needs to come down. Um so I spoke to um Noel Kenny this afternoon. uh they are
either and when when the town does tree removal they do it in a bunch and they usually do it in the fall. So um which would um delay placement of the sculpture. So Noel is going to look into possibly remove have they will remove the tree and then place the sculpture.
So hopefully that'll be done in the next few weeks. So um and Shay Tree is fine with that. It doesn't have to be replaced. Just do they have the sculpture already? What's that? Do they have the sculpture already? I don't know if they've taken delivery, but they're planning on um installation soon. So,
it's it's happening. It is happening. Um just real quick, I just want to give you guys sort of an inside view of what's going on in the TC. I'm sure you've heard we've had a lot of issues with our um affordable housing mandates. Um uh this coming Tuesday will be the
planning board meeting where they will hopefully adapt um our proposed uh plan for for affordable housing on the two locations on South River Road. Um once uh once the planning board adapts it, the uh township committee will hold a
special meeting uh Thursday of this week at the library at 7:00 um where we will um pass a number of resolutions that will enable us to um partner with the developer in question, partner with CHA
and um and change some of the zoning issues that um we need to change in order to make these these adapt these um changes to um submit our plan to the state on June 30th. So um we'll see how all that goes. Um and just a little bit
of inside baseball. We were talking earlier before the meeting. There's been just a lot of outside voices contacting township committee uh uh calling town hall, leaving vulgar messages and anonymous messages. Um it's been a
pretty stressful time for um everyone in town hall and on the township committee. Um, so, uh, appreciate everyone's support and, uh, hopefully we'll we'll all get through this, but, um, uh, yeah, I mean, things are basically moving forward and, uh, we'll make our submission to the state on June 30th and
and we'll go from there. So, um, other than that, I don't have many updates. We've been kind of preoccupied, so we haven't talked a lot about parks and wreck. Um, that's it. I do have a quick question for Sally regarding um, trail. I know you guys did trail maintenance. Was there any discussion of um sort of
the infrastructure of the trails like at Reinhardt? I'm in there quite a bit and the uh the trail maps are on the ground and yes, we did that during the maintenance. Okay. Um the chair of the EC put up new trail maps and he put up
more of the metal colored markers for the trails and that was part of it. The boardwalks too. Was there any discussion of I didn't get that far. I I don't know. I only the the if you go in take the trail to the left after you cross a little brook. It was really bad. So I
spent all my time there. Um and so I didn't do the whole other part, but they the other people did. We kind of split up and they came back and they they said their parts were done. So Okay. I don't I don't know. Very good. Uh yeah, that's all I have. All right. Thank you, Matt.
Um I don't want to get too into that. I I don't want to at all get into that last thing you brought up. I'm glad we have the information, but I don't want to back and forth. Having said that, are there any questions for Matt? All right. Excellent. Let's move on. Thank you, Matt. Let's move on to old
business. I would just like to show my support for Matt and the other TC members, and I'm glad he feels comfortable here. And um just know it's tough tough times that you're going through and I support you and the township staff, professional staff who
answers the phones. Absolutely. Much appreciated. Thank you. All right. Old business. I have it on the agenda, but there is nothing I have to present. I'm happy to entertain. Um if there are others who have something,
the splashpad and the circle procurement. I mean, I am eager to move forward with a gazebo approach. Um, but I I I'm unless anyone and I'm not getting a signal from anyone, I don't think our time would be
productive rehashing that today. Um, so if no one objects, I would like to move on to rules and regulations for the parks. Uh, I have a I'm said I would do this much earlier, but I only did it this afternoon. I sent out um an email and also Donna
uh printed out and prepared for us in front of us um a proposal I put together for um what I think we sort of group consensus might want to recommend. Um I'm going to sort of walk through that
real quick and then I'm going to ask if there are any comments. Um so first thing um I made all the references to tennis courts change to tennis pickleball courts. Um that I think is
the most prudent way to describe them since they are essentially dual use. I mean it's yeah I think that's the best way to describe them. Um and I won't repeat that each time. It's it appears here. Um but note that I I've suggested
that change. Um you oh by the way you can see here in this document and also in the electronic version that the changes are underlined um and or the proposed additions are underlined and the proposed removals are struck
through. Uh so hours of operation I was looking at this and it was unclear to me really where we were collectively. There was a lot of discussion about hours of operation. I did notice something I hadn't noticed
before, which is that it says in section one that the parks quote shall be open to the public every day of the year from dawn to dusk, but it doesn't say that they should be closed at any time. Um, that I'm not sure if that is a distinction that most people notice. I
certainly didn't notice it until today, but it is a distinction that may have meaning. We didn't have really a consensus on this. So I would suggest we when we make a recommendation to the TC simply recommend that they consider
extending the hours or shifting the hours during which the park is closed. Does anyone what actually you know let's come back to that later. I'm going to go through it all at once and then we'll we'll do discussion. Um second page
I have here uh section three uh subsection D paragraph 1. It says Cranberry Recreation Department. I just struck out Cranberry since Cranberry is not mentioned any other time in front of the Cranberry Township or bodies. It stays for Cranberry School District
because that although it serves Cranberry Township is not part of Cranberry Township. Um, section 3.1, we didn't really have the wording hammered out, but we did want to recommend that there be some allowance for an individual or a small group to
use the athletic fields in an unorganized capacity for recreation like throw uh baseball, play catch on the baseball field, two people, three people or some such thing. Um, also the meaning
of group was unclear here if that was meant as like an organized institutional group or a just a group of more than one people. Uh, more than one more person. Page four, uh, baseball field C2 at Village Park doesn't exist anymore. I suggested that be struck out. Um section
four paragraph B or section four sub paragraph section four subsection B it says the following activities and conduct shall be prohibited and you would expect a list of the prohibited conduct and activities to follow. But it's actually entirely new sentences
that say that that say what is prohibited but it it you know you it's not a list. It's a bunch of new sentences and some of it is actually things that are required as opposed to prohibited. That is not hard to understand, but best practice would be
to make some adjustments there. Um page five um under um under paragraph one oh no under the top of the page for
the fireworks um I had it I suggested a change to no fireworks quote except as authorized by the township committee or recreation department you know as we do every year for the the fireworks we for
Independence Day on on July 5th. Um seven se uh sorry uh 17 we talked about motorized vehicles and all the vehicles that are motorized like an ebike or uh a um
a motorized wheelchair. There is I have I suggested any motor vehicle other than a personal conveyance not be uh used outside the roads. The word personal or the term personal conveyance is something I pulled from state law
describes things like um a wheelchair, like a scooter, other various things that are motorized or can be motorized in our vehicles but are not what we think of when we think of like motor vehicles in the like DMV sense of motor
vehicle. Um then 24 I just changed inline skating to roller skating because that's slightly broader. It's not a hugely significant change. Um and we talked about the fact that it it pro we have this exception
that you can skateboard or skate in a designated area but we have no designated areas or mechanism to designate any areas. So, I'm proposing the language be uh no skateboarding or skating quote except on a roadway or pedestrian, bicycle, or multi-use path.
Um, then under subsection D, it says any person who violates any park rule or regulations may be denied the future use of these facilities. There's no mechanism by which to accomplish that. And also, it's like one of four or five different places that
there are penalties provided in this chapter. So, I thought it might be prudent to strike that and go with the penalties that are listed elsewhere. And then on page six, um, for fees, and we'll get to this also later,
um, it seems to me a little bit tricky that the township committee would have to set fees by ordinance for every wreck, program, lesson, trip, camp, league, game, or township sponsored recreation activity like a movie night. I think it might be more prudent if the
wreck department um in the person of our rec director Ken Jes Ken Jacobs could set the fees for those things while the township committee would still be responsible for fees for park and athletic field reservation and usage. Um I also
proposed in section 7 that we strike out um subsection C. It says the township committee may consult us before adopting a fee resolution. I mean, of course they can. They're the township committee. They don't need to give themselves permission to do that. It seems just
like unnecessary inclusion. And then the last thing I suggested was for violations and penalties. I just wanted to tidy this up a little bit. Um for sub section B um to clarify that when groups and
organizations are liable for the fines of any members of that group who are using the facilities, I wanted just to just be super clear that they're only liable when it's a member of the group who's using the facility because of a reservation, not some other occasion. Um
so that's what I had. It's not perfect. Please throw your criticisms out. Um, actually, I like pretty much all of it. Uh, the one thing I noticed on, and maybe I'm missing it on section
2B3, it also mentions no individuals or Sorry, can you give us page number? Oh, I'm sorry. I guess that' be page two on your document. Um 3A, no individual, organization or group may use the town. So it's a copy of kind of what's listed
below that you changed. Yeah, I'm sorry. I meant to flag that, too. So that that one just would need to be adjusted, too. Um and then there's a rule on here that pickle ball or tennis courts can't be reserved more than two times a month,
which seems a little odd to me. I know people that play every week and have like a regular game that they It'd be nice to let people even just once a maybe it's no more than once a week. I don't know. It just doesn't seem like that's crazy to have somebody or maybe there's a time. So like you can't I mean
we we don't really take reservations for those anyway. So So there's some rules in here like that about reservations or things. It seem like they're I think that in here to be in here. Yeah. We don't have the We don't really have the mechanism to do that to put a sign. What are we going to do? Put a sign up saying
it's reserved for I hear what you're saying. I do disagree though because I don't think it's fair if the same couple or group is reserving it so that they can play tennis every single Saturday at the 10:00 hour every single week of the
year kind of thing. I think that's why it's useful to limit them to twice a month. And also, you can show up whenever you want and and wait your turn, which is not a huge problem because they're they're usually open or soon will be open. I mean, in in my 26
years here, we've never had a single person asked to reserve it except we had a group who wanted to use it for tennis lessons, but it was an outside organization that wasn't in town, right? But nobody has ever asked for that. And
I mean, unless you have somebody monitoring that, it's going to be impossible to enforce. Anyway, I do want to discuss this, but there's some more information that I that we need to consider. It's on the agenda
for new business park and field use application and fees. So, um, consider holding your comments on that part until we we get to that under new business. microphone, please. Then you yell at me to turn it off. Um I I wonder what the
expectation is going to be with once the completion is done with the new pickle ball facility. And I don't know if maybe Sally would be a better Sally, if you'd like to chime in on what the pickle ball organization, the pickle
ball enthusiasts in town. And I know when we had discussed, well, I guess uh who was on rep when we first went down the are we going to build pickle ball in town, you know, and we started talking about if we build it, they will come. Are we going to have to start worrying about worrying about or anticipating
outside um non cranberry residents hearing about our brand spanking new pickle ball facility and coming. So, I wonder if that's maybe also somewhat what Brendan's concern is. Well, it's still only two courts, so it's not like
we're going to get a tournament or anything in and the most people can play is an hour at a time. The most you would have to wait would be an hour. And that's what I'm saying though for that reserving then if you because we only have a small number of courts then if
this is I don't play pickle ball. I know we play I know but I know um my we do play tennis at Monroe 33 which is slowly turning over a ton of their tennis courts to pickle ball because it has grown so much. Can I jump in here? Yeah,
please. I'm turning my mic off. So I hear what you're saying. I think given we we really we really don't see that many that much demand for the existing ports we have. We have gotten to suggestions that there
be more courts available and we have more we've basically declined to install more courts and given the limited number of courts we have which is two tennis courts one of which is lined for dual
use as two pickle ball courts. We just don't have that many people coming because they know they can't come in large groups. So to answer your question, I don't think we're going to see much of a problem right now. The people who use it, it works for. It's
the people who don't use it, the people who wish we had more number of courts who uh have the have the complaint. But as far as actual people who show up to the park, my impression is, and Sally, you may know a little bit more than I do, that for the most part, people are not having trouble accessing the court
when they come for like a pickup game or whatever. I've never had problem. I've never known anybody to have a problem. The more the better because it's tough game and you need to sit out sometimes. So if someone wants to come in and take my place, I'm happy to sit out a game.
Trying to just use my booming voice. Um my family has had trouble using the tennis courts in like the morning hours. So, I'm I'm just trying to think about if if it's worthwhile keeping this
limited reservation line in or not. Yeah. I I or if it's even worth It doesn't even sound like we have a mechanism for it, though. So, that's why I keep getting back to like we have rules that we can't even Right. We don't have a way to institute or police. So, it just feels kind of foolish to be
honest. You have a rule that like we're not ever going to follow. We don't even have a way to follow it. So, moving along. Yeah, it would be a nice problem to have to have like a torid of people in the park that we're having to try and manage.
It would indeed. Um, we're going to circle back to that uh for for that new business item. Um, does anyone else have I do. Thank you. Um at page five, it's section 108-4. Big C,
subsection C, members of the police department shall have the authority to eject from parks any person acting in violation of this chapter, which I understand. But then does how do we read that in conjunction
with the violation of $50 um in section 108-8A? I'm specifically addressing this because I believe that there have been kids
playing basketball that have been spoken to by the police. And I think that a penalty for being in the park after dark playing basketball, I can understand it being being ejected from
the park, but I can't imagine it going on your record or being some sort of penalty or fine, right? So, I think that maybe we need to look more about the violations and penalties and what applies where because this seems inconsistent. I do agree that there the it
It's a lot to sort through and sift through. There's like a few different part. It's, you know, it's a six-page document or at least in this formatting and there's a lot of crosschecking about the penalties and I I think there's room for improvement there. Um, in that part
108-8A where it says um, here under shall upon conviction thereof be punished. What if we change the shall to may? So, that's Yeah, that's a I don't think we
can do that. Um, I I'm thinking there's some things that are like deserving of a $50 fine and there's some things that the police can say, could you just leave now? And and maybe that needs to be parsed through and and yeah,
implies you are going to get this fine. A implies you may get this fine if if not that I plan to violate any rules, but I do like to know in advance what the penalty will be if I do violate it. And I'm I and I am a rule follower, so I
I'm just saying that I like to know. I'm not saying I plan to break any of them, but will I get kicked out or pay $50? I hear you. Um kicked out. It looks You could totally get kicked out on the spot. $50 requires a prosecution in
municipal court and a conviction by the municipal court judge. Um I I don't want to get I don't think we're the right body to answer the questions about like you know municipal court prosecutions and such. Um but also I don't know that
any other body is going to do it if we don't. So we should probably look at it anyway. Um but I think that is something to to look at. Um, I will say last last month when we looked at this, I was hoping we could wrap it up today and
submit a recommendation to the TC, but I think it would be prudent of us to take a look at it again and try to shoot for for next month. There's no rush on this. I'd rather get it right then than get it uh quick. So, in other words, I I think that we we
do want to look at that. Um, is anyone Yeah, I think we want to look at that. Sally, uh, yes. In 108, u page one, hours of operation, I think it's pretty
explicit from dawn to d that is open every day from dawn to dusk. That the implication is there that is not open between dusk and dawn. So, I I'm happy with that wording. On page four, the six at the top of the page, um I thought we
discussed this. It says, "No person shall drop through or otherwise scatter lighted D." I thought we needed to say there shall be no smoking or vaping in any of the parks because this implies that you can you can smoke your cigar, but just don't
drop it. Um, I mean it implies that you can't smoke your cigar, but you can light it, but also don't drop it. But don't smoke it. You can light it, but don't smoke it. And don't drop it. Um, no, it doesn't say you can't you can't smoke there. No, it doesn't say it here. It's
in it's in another chapter. And I can tell you why it's in another chapter. Because when people were freaking out about the idea that somebody in a legally licensed store in town might sell cannabis to people aged 21 and over in accordance with state law.
They real quick passed a not not super quick, but they passed a entirely new chapter dealing just with smoking. um instead of like incorporating it in a more comprehensive way, they just passed a new chapter. Is that listed in this
document anywhere? No, it's um then I I think it needs Yeah, I I think you're right that there's no reason it shouldn't be. So, I will you know that type of something there. Basically, that implies as I said that you can burn your cigarette and your cigar just don't drop
it on the ground. Yeah, you we should all be lawyers, you guys. Some of us already are, but I think the rest of us should be, too. That's all I had. The others look good. Uh, if I could add one thing, um, for
being legalistic on, uh, page three, uh, section 108-4, uh, item two, um, the hunting issue, um, we we actually do allow hunting. Um, so I don't know if you need to amend that.
Yeah, I was I was thinking about that one. Um, parks. It is parks, but also like it's written not preserves. It's not preserves. It's written broad enough that like you know you're not allowed to squish a bug. Um although on the on the
front it does say regulations applicable to parks and other public lands. Yeah, that's just I I don't know if that's actually part of the law or that's just like a copy editor's decision on how to um how to give that chap that section a name. Um because
that's a thing that happens, right? Because I'm always passing. fish. Um, no. Sometimes sometimes just because sometimes the names of the um the top line sections are not actually
in the law but added by um like the editors of like as an editors who actually in the old days would publish this in a book or these days would publish it online. Um and I that may be part of it. I I don't know.
Um but to the point about the hunting it falls under B which says um sh prohibited within any park belong to or lease by. So it doesn't cover uh subsection B doesn't cover areas like um
I don't know the um uh pin oaks or what have you. Um, also I don't think there's anybody in town who's like, "Oh, I thank God they wrote this down. Otherwise, I was going to go hunting in Village Park." Um, so
I'm not sure why this section exists at all. I I haven't seen a horse in the park lately either. Um, sorry. Can you put your mic on? No, I'm talking to myself. Okay. Um, all right. So, that's a
thought, too. Um, going back to the stuff that I had inserted or stricken. Um, anyone have any any um objection or serious objection? All right. And again, we're not making any decisions today because we're we're
coming back and take another crack at this next month. Um, but until then, I want to put this, if we're good, I want to put this aside for a second and come back to it a little bit under the new business agenda item for the pocket
field use stuff. Um, so moving on for the moment, we have a memorial bench application. It is for Do I have a copy of that? Oh, I do have a copy of that. Um, it is in I think you all have a copy of it in your packet
with the um it's in the minutes packet. Sorry. Okay. I asked for too many things to be printed today. Um, so we have an application an individual paying for the
bench. Um, looks above board to me. Um, I don't have any objection. I just hope that the um I hope we can get it in Village Park along the new
walking trail. But that's a conversation uh that we need to have about placement once we approve or once we approve it. Um, if there is nobody who wants to speak on it, do can we just do like a show of hands of whether this has our
approval? Well, is I see that in the very last line the n is where it says you will remain the n is more than the amount of characters. Is that going to be a problem? I was thinking that too and I don't know. So, well, I guess we'll crop to across that
bridge when we come to it. There is enough space. The line above it they sort of went down. Yeah. Just theoretically, also monotype like this isn't like, you know, these days if you put in an I, it's not going to take up as much space as a W. And there are they
should be a few smaller characters in here. I think it should all fit. Yeah. Was the location discussed at all when the application was made? No. I I think it is important that we make sure this is in Village Park along the new walking trail. And I do have that map of the
possible I mean I think that's entire happy to meet with the person. They say their address is Justin Drive. That's the um apartment complex just to the north of Village Park on 130. So I it seems most likely that that's where they would want it anyway.
Um do we we don't need to take a roll call on this. This is not like a motion. or just um would you like me to contact the person and meet with her about a location if we decide that this is going to happen? I would love that. Okay. Would you like to? Yeah. Thank you,
Sally. Because I have the map that that shows exactly where the benches can go. Thank you, Sally. Um so, we are approving this. Um correct? Yes, we're approve. I want to make sure everyone has an opportunity to object. So, we're
going to approve that. and um Sally will uh have follow conversations about the location. All right. Now, moving to new business. We have agenda for us the um issue of the park and field use
applications and fees. So, here is the situation. We have a ton of them. We've got a ton of applications. Um you have in the legal sized uh print out in front of you a calendar of all of the
uh approved and issued application uh reservations right now and it is very much more than I would have imagined. um a lot, especially on the weekends. We've got, you know, birthday parties, family reunions, graduations. That's all
great, but it seems perhaps that we are becoming a bit of a magnet for out oftowners because our fees are so low. And that might be something we want to look at. Also,
the there we're only really supposed to, according to the policies we have in place right now, be accepting the rental applications for the pavilion on Sunday through Thursday only, leaving
Friday and Saturday out of the equation. Doesn't it seems like that practice may have fallen um into obeyance. So, we want to look at that, too. And um
I think we are also missing out on an opportunity to raise a bit more funding for the recreation department by just charging marginally higher fees. These aren't we're not trying to break the bank on
anybody, but um it's an you know it it there it c it comes at a certain cost to the town. um but the cost of the rest of the town not being able to use reserve space and also the cost of cleanup because not everyone as they're supposed to takes their own garbage out if
they're in a party of 10 or more. Um we talked about that last month. So the other issue we have here is that some of the fees themselves should perhaps be adjusted.
I don't think we're in a position to declaratively state what the fees should be today, but I do want to wrap this back into our earlier conversation from just a few minutes ago about um the the rules and regulations uh in the township
code because I think that there is room for adjustment here. What do we what do we think? Nothing. Sorry, I was reading the fee. I mean, it's it doesn't seem like it's super high. I'm sure if we think there's
a little more revenue that's not If a $50 rental fee, if it's a little bit more, I think that no one's going to suddenly not rent just for 50 people. It's a dollar a person. Yeah. I mean, I I just I want to I think we want to
strike a balance here. We don't want We want the park to be used, but we also want it to be usable. if people are using it for a reservation or certain parts of it for a reservation, it is then unusable by anyone else. So, we want to set a fee that m that balances
supply and demand so that we sort of hit a good equilibrium. I think that that's what my goal would be. So, just back to the garbage in the in the regulations, it says they have to take their own garbage out. Right here, it says all trash must be placed in garbage cans. Which one is it?
That's a good question that I don't have an answer to. I mean it I think if they have to take it out then this should be changed on the application. Fully agree. Um so again I I just don't know what we can accomplish
tonight by like throwing numbers around about what the the fees and everything should be. So I'm unless so I open it up to anyone who has something to say but I think other after we get our comments out there I think we chew on this is
food for thought and um circle back to it next month. I would also recommend looking at like Muchachin or any of like there's plenty of towns around that have really impressive parks and they charge these sort of things like I'm sure they
have they're much bigger so they have much more elaborate fee structures but it would be looking just to get a benchmark right Monroe ask Ken do you know off the top of your head what any of the comparable size parks or pavilions in West Windsor I bet you know
that there park. Yeah, there are substantially more. Um, we have one at I guess at Vaness Park that would be similar and we don't charge different prices for our pavilions. We have two.
One at Community Park, one at Vaness Park. And for a 4hour block of time, it's $250 for a resident and 500 for a non-resident. 250 and five. and and is it but we have permanent we have
permanent bathrooms. Yeah, I was going to say they have full facilities there. Yeah. Yeah. But but it gives you a benchmark like that's that's as high as you should possibly go and I don't think anybody would blink at $100 for a resident and
then make it 200 for res non-residents and now the non-residents may not, you know, be so inclined to come as opposed to $100. Yeah, I I I I really want to emphasize I I don't think it should be our goal to keep people out, but I think it must be
our goal to ensure that these facilities aren't perpetually reserved because, you know, we only have one pavilion. We only have one gazebo. If it's reserved for eight hours a day every Saturday, that's a lot of people who can't use it at all because somebody else has reserved it.
And I, you know, I want people to be able to reserve it. I want people to be able to afford it, but I don't want to be the cheapest game around because we only have the one that we can give up before nobody else can use it. It's going to have a new roof. Yeah. And it's going to have a new roof, so people are going to want to come even more.
I would also would also mention when it's being used for a party because the space is so tight, it makes the park a little bit difficult to use just passively just for kids to come play at
the playground. Um, so that's also something to keep in mind when there's a party going on just for kids to come use the the beautiful new playground that we installed. Where do the do the fees just go? A stupid question, but where do they go? Like, does it just go to the back to
the I don't know where they go, but I know they're meant to go. Go ahead. They go into the recreation trust fund. Okay. So, they're restricted for recreation purposes. Yeah. Yeah. So we also though pay for the port of John's at various
park locations and um last few years we've actually taken in enough money to kind of cover our expenses throughout the year of those portage John. Well, I was just thinking because we talked about before like other things that we can do to actually eventually improve the
facilities like do we have to have portichans forever, right? Like there are little parks that have tiny bathrooms that we have water there. There's facilities. There's no reason why residents should have to go to the portagon for the park for all day,
right? And if we raise the fees, we could be using that as creating a fund to maybe five years from now actually build a bathroom next to the pavilion or something like that, right? Yeah, we talked about that when we were hoping to put a water water park in, not
a water park, but a water splash pad and then to have a bathroom along with it. So, I think that would be it could be on our wish list. A huge difference maker in park usage. I absolutely think so. I don't think we're ever going to I don't think we're going to be able to get there with Milstone Park because there's
not a sewer line available there and it seems prohibitive to install a septic system for the what would be relatively limited use most days. But for Village and Heritage, which are
near or a sewer line, I think that it's an entirely reasonable and entirely achievable ambition to shoot for. But Heritage doesn't have a pavilion or picnic area. I mean it has a few picnic tables. I would think the priority would be village
spend a lot of time. At the same time, if you if you had it at Heritage, would that eventually start happening? Right. People would start going and picnicking there. It's taken seven years and we haven't even a water bottle station yet. I can't see a bathroom. Once once people start drinking that
water, they're going to have to go to the bathroom. I get it. I guess the reason I'm bringing up is because those fees could be earmarked towards that, right? It's it's not just a let's just double the fees because we feel that people would pay it sort of thing. We're doubling the fees because we feel it's
going to go to the park and we have a specific set of things that we think. So, water bottle, bathrooms, whatever it is, like have something lined up so that it's not just raising fees because we feel we can get more money.
I'm strongly in favor of that comment because I like seeing people in the park and if we have it like let's use it and I don't care if it's free, right? You know, the bathroom or the park or the or the pl or the uh I would like if
both were free. Bathroom and the pavilion. Well, the pavilion's already free except for to reserve. Um All right. So I think that Yeah. Yeah. Just just one thing for the township committee. This sounds like a
good thing to ask for a capital project, right? I mean, instead of relying on banking these fees, you know, you can ask the township come January. So I would consider it that I that's very encouraging.
Alrighty, let us move. I think that we're well positioned to um circle back and make more progress on this next month. Our next agenda item is action items, but I don't want to close this out if we're not done with it. This looks like we are done with it, though.
So, let's move on to action items. All right. So, let me look at my notes here. Um, I am going to take a look and see if I can attend the July meeting of the
Environmental Commission and if I'm not able to, I'm going to recruit somebody to go instead or maybe I'll just watch the video afterward. Um, they are, I believe, the second Monday of the month, the EC meetings.
Yeah, they're the second Monday of the month at 7 here in this room. Um but also just you can check on the the calendar on the township website. Um and it's just going Yeah. Going and
reporting um and reporting back to us. Parks and wreck is actually on their agenda. And at that point I come up to the table and I talk about what and during this meeting I take I put asterisk next to things that we wanted
that I want to tell them. Um and then I mention that and then I take notes for what to tell you guys back here. Brendan's very familiar with it. He'll go. All right. Um, other action items I
have. I'm going to put some more word like actual words as in suggested language for the rules and regulations. Also, I would ask everyone give some
thought to a fee structure kind of situation. Um, I know that we're all busy. I speak speaking for myself. I said I was going to do something and I didn't do it until 3 hours ago. Um, but I did do it. So, um,
let's, uh, let's try to put some thought into that. I think I'm going to talk with um members of the township committee, with Ken, with Donna, with other people in the township staff who interface directly with the public and
make these reservations and report them to see what, you know, where we can maybe what direction we could go and and get their advice on that. And I ideally have something for us all to look at before, three hours before our next meeting like I did today. Um whoops. And
then we are going to This is not exactly an action item for next month, but I am I think we would be I think we we don't want to forget about the bathrooms. I think that's something we can work to and it's not hard to justify. Um did anyone else
have action items? Ken had some things to follow up on. same as some of the things that have been the same for a while now, like the um water fountain and I think I didn't have any other action items. Donna, did you Was there one that
you had that I missed? Sally, I'm going to meet with the um Oh, right. The park bench. The memorial bench. I'm going to contact her and let her know that it was approved and meet with her at the park to see if um what her location is. Um, and I will not be at the July meeting.
July. I think it's the first one I've missed in my entire time being on parks and wreck. So, um, you're perfect attendance. You're gonna We're Yeah, you're going to get the award because Yeah, you can watch on YouTube. This is not an
action item, but it's a report. It's a new allow. Oh, thank you. Um, I was our rep to the Cranberry 250th semientennial,
however, America 250. So, they have an event. You can mark your calendars. It's October 11th from 1:00 till 4:00, Whispers from the Grave or Whispers from the Graveyard, I'm not sure, in Brainard Cemetery. and
it's like 20 patriots who are really buried there and their stories and it's raising money for how we're celebrating um the 250th birthday in 2026 Presbyterian Church on Main Street
across from Grand Marian. October 11th you said was the date. Saturday. So, Brainard Cemetery, which is by the Presbyterian Church on South Main Street, not to be confused with Westminster Cemetery, which is on North Main Street near the entrance to Village
Park. True. So, all right. Um, sorry, one, do you know the cost for that event? Okay, we're also looking for reenactors. Mostly men. Oh, did I reenact? We need
20. Um, Brendan, were you saying something about the August meeting? Did you want to Yes, I think this is not final yet, but I anticipate that the August meeting will be cancelled. Actually, it's very likely that it will be cancelled. Um, not definitive yet
until it's publicly noticed, but keep an eye out for that public notice because it's probably coming. Two things. one. Was there anything and maybe I missed it. Was there anything we need to do before the next one around the whole gazebo? Like because I know we had talked about types and sizes and do
we need to do I mean we do have stuff to do but it's not an action item that came out of this meeting. So Okay. All right. That's fine. And then if we are going to try and talk about bathrooms and all it may be worth it if there is a sum of money that's being spent on those portage Johns in terms of service rent
everything to have that because there's obviously costs that would be offset by eliminating them. So do you know what the monthly is for those? Yeah it's not terribly expensive. So, I think it's
$100 for like a regular one and then for like a handicap one, it's 150 something like that. All right. Um, I am going to move on to the next agenda item, which is public comment. I'm going to open up public comment for any members of the public
wishing to comment. There's three minute limit for each person who's making public comment. Are there any members of the public who wish to comment? There's nobody here. Um, all right. There being no one here who wants to make a public comment and also there being no one here at all, I'm going to
close public comment and um I'd like to make a motion to adjurnn. Is there a second? Second. All right, we do not need to roll call vote on that. We are adjourned. Thank you everyone.