yeah okay all right good uh good afterno good evening everybody um it is uh Wednesday March 19th 2025 we're here for a meeting of the cran Parks and Recreation Commission I'm going to call this meeting to order now let's begin with the Pledge of
Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with li and justice for all all righty 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 hosted on the bulletin board posted on the Township's website and sent to those who requested a copy of this
notice all right let's proceed to our uh roll call for attendance and Report uh volunteer hours okay Brandon I am here uh two hours okay Christina here one
hour Kelly here one hour Omar here one hour Sally present two hours Fallon here one hour and Michael here one
hour okay our right terrific um we do have for the public we do have a new member with us today would you like to introduce yourself or say anything briefly I'm happy to be here
Mike foda just uh joining it's my first time on any Council so I'm eager to get started all right terrific thank you very welcome indeed all right um we have our draft uh minutes from February has anyone any um
revision edits Corrections or additions to the minutes if not I would entertain a motion uh to adopt the minutes I move we adopt the minutes from the February 19th meeting thank you
Sally is there a second thank you Christina all right let's have a roll call for that Brendan yes Christina yes Kat's not here Kelly yes Omar yes
Sally yes there Fallon yes and Michael obain all right the minutes are approved um I'm going to deviate a bit from the order of our agenda we have some public
here um who are wishing to make public comment so I'm going to move to that now uh we're going to open up public comment for members of the public there is a 3 minute limit to public comment and other than that if you could just um sign your
name there um and I believe your address and um then you'll be good to go yeah just okay uh Jonathan broer and it's two Justin Drive uh did my three minutes start sure okay
no well start won't be go ahead I I won't be long I have notes in my phone I wanted to just make a quick comment because I know you've all been talking about the open um uh offleash dog area and so I just had a couple of comments uh I've lived in Cranberry a little over five years but I'm originally from
Oldbridge so I'm sort of from the area unfortunately I've moved five times in the last 13 years so I've seen a lot of dog parks because I've always had dogs and I like the idea that they're considering this I don't think it's necessarily the best option but um my
thought was uh a dog park is a great thing to have a general dog park um it sounds like you're talking more about an an unenclosed area and I think that can be tough um I've lived in places where they have that and it means that there's all different sized dogs mingling and
obvious I think the problems with that are are obvious um but if they did it I'd be thrilled on the other hand on the other hand um if you consider a more traditional dog park setting and and maybe promoting something like that either in that same area or in one of
the parks um I just wanted to offer a few details I don't know how far into the conversation you are I don't think it's very far at all and you haven't approved it yet or the town hasn't approved it but I just wanted to mention a couple of things quickly that I know are important in a dog park and that I've seen in some and not others and it
would be nice to have a dog park with all of it which is for one thing do a fence in park if you can rather than um off leash um a storage shed with tools and brooms and things like that and and pickup um bag dispensers and running
water and nighttime lights and signage and rules and drainage and um shade because in summer no one's going if it's too hot these are just things that I thought of that I hope um if you guys do start to proceed with this um you'll you'll remember and I have a million
other things on my list I just think cranberry does a lot of things really well and there's a lot of things that I've always been impressed with in cranberry and I just know that we don't have a single dog park and it would be nice if we did so I just hope that ultimately it'll get done right and I
was just going to ask how can I stay informed on this and and here the latest so I don't know if someone has an answer to that otherwise um that was my comment all right thank you we don't have a a newsletter per se but you can sign up uh
if you wish on the Township's website to get uh copies of our agenda emailed to you as they go out oh okay I can do that on the website yeah um and uh yeah just a minute Sally and um if
you have if you have any additional details or anything you'd like to submit in writing I didn't get everything on that list down um with my pen and paper here uh feel free to do so you can find my email um on the township website as well yeah to
say not a long time Sally as far as the offleash area I've been meeting with the environmental commission too and that is basically off the table um that that will not happen because of environmental issues in The
Preserves um as far as a fenon area I I was on the original Parks Commission before it was parks and R and we've been talking about this for years and um we just don't there's no we have not found a space that is applicable for in this
in you know in the town so basically that's kind of off of our list too if we ever did put it on the list again we would never have lights because all our parks close at dusk so um that was one thing that would never happen but um and
as far as running water I mean we we we've talked about a community garden and it's been shut down because we don't have running water going to it we never running water are going so so your wish list is is very uh commendable I mean if you can get it to happen we would like
that but we've been trying for years and um ask question I mean what can I do to help the process that's question one and question two is if it hasn't been able to get done is is it because you have found space for it but it's always been
opposed adequately opposed or no it's just you're not finding it okay um any suggestion what I might do besides email you with with more comments um I mean you you can you should always feel free to take your concerns to the township committee members themselves the elected officials
here in town um we and some in some large part do take our lead from them as they are the ultimate uh Authority on spending and other such decisions okay I won't take of any more of your time thank you all thank you for what you do thank you thanks for coming
take care all right are there any other members of the public wishing to comment seeing none I'm going to go ahead and close public comment and we will move on to our reports starting with a report from our Recreation director Mr Ken
Jacobs okay thank you um I have Department of Public Works I I believe they hung the um life preserver yes they did um it was sitting in the office I put it right next to his mailbox and he put it up there so thanks to Jerry
Thorne for doing that um pickle ball court is going out to it's actually advertised now I believe for the bid so um we advertised I believe for 10 business days and then actually might be
longer than that might be four weeks uh not sure of the timing of it as far as when we open the bids but after we open the bids then we uh look and see who's the lowest bidder make sure that they're qualified then it goes to TC for Award
of the contract to the um company and then they start work so probably within the next six weeks or so we'll start on that project at the Village Park uh does have the sound barrier on the on the
courts um we got the heavyduty pickle Nets that are like really solid they won't um you know break down in a year uh hopefully so um so that is that is
currently out the bid um The Pavilion roof um if you recall we're waiting on additional funds for that from the TC uh typically the um Capital items that we
asked for do not become spendable until about May so we can't do that project without that extra money so we're I'm waiting for that to come available so we can finish that project as
well um field hockey uh the field hockey coach did email me a program proposal she also had several questions that I'm working on getting answers for um but looks like it's it's going to something
will hopefully happen um this summer for that um and the summer camp uh registration started today uh it is online registration you can register online or you can download a
registration packet we have some here as well to pick up but the uh registration began today and Fallon was the very first one to register online so [Laughter] congratulations yeah you can get an old
t-shirt from one of the old ones that we have from like 1980 so um so we have that and that's that's really what I have for a report all right does anyone have any uh
followup uh queries for uh Ken all right um let's move on to uh parks preserve updates reports uh do any of the members have anything to share about developments they have noted um in
our parks and preserves as of late Sally I can I you didn't you didn't raise your hand you didn't move at all but I can tell you want to speak I'll just it my son um has walks all of them and he reported that um the pins unami and the cranberry Brook preserve are all in good
shape the trees have been cut down things are fine there this is not quite a um a park preserve update per se but I will note for um that along the property line uh joining uh cranberry Millstone Park with
the old cranberry swim club club property the old cranberry Swim Club is now completely duded of all vegetation that was there the only things left standing there are the uh building that hous the locker rooms and snack bar the basketball hoops the two bridges over
the creek and the metal superstructure of the slide which has been moved and dragged toward the creek but is still there on the property yeah all gone yeah um so I mentioned that only because the sort of
familiar wooded Edge between uh cranberry milstone Park and the swim club is much less of an edge I mean there's still the trees that were existing on in the park itself but as like a sort of barrier it is much less
significant noticeable than it had been in the past uh anyone else with a an update to report all right environmental commission the environmental commission met on Monday uh did Sally did you get a chance to attend yes sir I did and thank
you Sally they did uh mention that area and they were concerned because um apparently I I don't think he got a permit to cut those those trees down so um they're going to be or the appropriate person is going to be
dealing with that I don't know what but um they were concerned about it it was mentioned um sorry s just to interrupt you briefly it's it I just want to be clear it wasn't just like the trees even if you're familiar with like crossing the bridge from back in the day when the
swim club was a swim club like just all any vegetation along the side of that little creek is it's just all gone yeah they were concerned about that um the rain Garden at Village Park was cleared by DPW um and that was uh what they do in
the spring but they they would still like to get Scouts involved to possibly have an ongoing work on it they're still looking into the trash can at to be put at the beginning of the Pino Trail on Old Cranberry
Road um since the chairperson wasn't at the previous meeting he didn't know about about it so now they're they're looking into that and I think they're just going to ask DPW whether that's going to be possible because it's not just putting it there but then it's emptying it uh Trail maintenance days uh which
was something that was my idea you know we have the stream cleanup days but I said it would be nice to have Trail maintenance days and they do not want to combine it with stream cleanup we' think that would take away from it so they're thinking miday to early June and they would start with one Trail at a time and
advertise it and just say we're all everybody meet with a pair of Clippers and we're going to whatever Trail it is and if it's if we have a whole lot of people that day then we could actually send some to another Trail otherwise we could do another Trail a different time but um I think getting volunteers to
help with that stream cleanup is April 12th the old Cranberry Road the sidewalk along Old Cranberry Road which is gravel and some places are in disrepair the
EC feels that that's not really an environmental their department so they're going to talk to to TC about that the Town Council about hopefully um since it is at the edge of a preserve but it is a sidewalk so they're going to ask if the if um DPW can add some more
gravel just in the low spot that's between the parking lot and the first few hundred yards or some few yards I don't know um and then they did discuss the Helen Cody statue and that was uh brought up by The lison Who had
concerns that uh her concerns were and I had told them I did tell them that it was definitely approved by Parks but um her concern was she wanted a um long-term goal of everything that's
going into the parks she wants to know everything that's going into the parks and it just it just can't be done we don't know everything that's going someone might come to us next week and and offer to put something in I know we as Parks fi if somebody offers to put something in I think we're going to try to find a place for it it's you know
it's a generous contribution so um I just wanted to let you know that the lison had concerns about the Cody statue so I don't know what happened at the TC meeting but I I hope that it it gets approved um and that's pretty much all
they said that pertains to Parks all right excellent does anyone have any uh a followup on that for any of the items Sally mentioned um I watched the meeting uh and they did not they just got the packet like right before the meeting so they discussed it
for like 30 minutes and then they basically said they needed to come back at the next meeting to really have a so they didn't make a final decision you mean 30 seconds actually they talked about 30es 30 minutes 30 minutes about the sculpture yeah 30 minutes so TC hasn't decided yet no they said they
needed to review all the stuff in the packet and come back the next time around to make a decision and I'll touch on that more when we get to our TC report um shade tree uh has anyone had any Communications with shade shade tree I saw that they canceled their last
meeting no and Kathy hasn't contacted me yet about meeting on the memorial over at um Millstone Park so I'm just waiting for her to contact me so that I can meet her there all right so we'll move on to a report from RTC Al aison well RTC Le aison is
detained today delayed um excuse me um he did report to me that the TC is mulling over the idea of the splash pad uh they have some not concerns but questions logistically financially um
Etc operationally that they are thinking over and they're sort of I mean maybe at the beginning to to middle end of that so it may be yet before we hear he what passes for a concrete answer
when you work in government circles um and um I will discuss uh the the TC meeting I the TC meeting last Monday on or the part of it on the Helen Cody sculpture uh proposal
um I did not go to the meeting but I did watch the recording the following day um Noah Kenny from the Helen Cody Foundation board present presented and they there there was a bit of a snafu regarding getting the um supporting
documents to the TC members um I had emailed them to uh Denise Marbell the township administrator some weeks ago um and then I was last the time I'm not sure how much the timeline matters but
last Wednesday or not last Wednesday the Wednesday before the Monday TC meeting I was asked to Supply them again and I did get around to doing that on Friday and I guess the email didn't get forward to TC members until Monday M midday or
afternoon um at regrettable uh communication snapu but they are they now have the material um the substance of the meeting itself was uh various TC members expressing certain questions or
concerns about the proposal uh just for the public record here uh because this is something I've heard other people mention it's not a a statue proposal it's it's a sculpture and the sculpture is a origami crane sculpture it's it's not a statue of a human person or any
other such thing it's um like a metal or a gami uh sculpture um and they decided at the meeting the TC that is that they would take a four weeks to consider it and they're not
going to hear it at their meeting next Monday but at their first meeting in April which is I guess two weeks from next Monday um it looked like there was good uh support at least one member looked pretty skeptically on the whole
thing and and some of the other members in the middle were a less committal about how they felt about the proposal but I think that when they get a chance to examine it more closely that it will uh muster support with the majority of TC members um and that's that's what we
have to say about that um I was a little uh I was it was really regrettable that they didn't have sort of the the background supporting documents ahead of time um but I I was also a little
um they the the vibe of the meeting was a little off-putting to I'm sure to some observers who thought that TC was perhaps a bit more skeptical than necessary of proposal I think that's a fair characterization um but there I don't want to over characterize it that
way there was there was support from uh Matt Matt was fully supportive of it our only aison and um there was um some more mixed views and noncommittal views from other people but I think at the end of the day we are we're going to be moving
forward with it they express this kind of concerns we usually hear about um over building the parks uh concerns about uh setting precedent if we do this for one person or organization will we have to do this for another person organization Etc um so that's where we
are with that that is the update um uh I'm ready to move on to our old business unless anyone has anything to add on the TC uh report and also we do have this agenda as old business so we can have our
discussion amongst ourselves at that point okay um all right so let's move on to our old business subcommittees Splash Pad we're not out of reports so feel free to discuss openly freely um as I said before splashpad is something TC is
mulling over and they do have their concerns and questions that they want answered and addressed I I don't like this project is a big one so it was never going to move quickly um but you know so their response thus far is as expected are we going to get a list of those questions they're mulling
over or is it they're going to do their own research and kind of circle back with us with questions I don't know they didn't say um I didn't get as much of a chance to talk to all the members as I would have preferred I I reached out to
several of them um but I I wasn't able to connect with a few or more than a few um but I think that what part of what they're doing is like Consulting with Denise the T administrator DPW um the
engineer and planning officials about all this and um I don't really think that they will provide us a list of questions and concerns ahead of time for us to address and respond to although that certainly would be lovely and
appreciated is is that kind of your feeling that they're mulling over it or is it just off the table uh I I wasn't um if you remember at our last meeting I said I would reach out to the township engineer to try to get an
idea if this was feasible or not with the where the water and sewer lines were that we could connect to and I was and Denise had told me to wait until TC has discussed this before I could do that so
unless they supported which I don't really have any idea if they are or not not um unless they support it I we won't move to that next next step so so what is our next step we're waiting on them decide we're in a sort of waiting um the
balls in their Court they're evaluating I I'm not sure they I don't think they've like had a full open public hearing on it they're just like individually examining it and maybe having one-on-one conversations with each other and with the relevant Township professionals um that's good do
you know if they got a copy of the presentation we put together I don't know as a fact I don't that might be helpful as they mull it over I shall check on that um but like I mean you know other than the fact that they didn't come back
like screaming and shouting yes here's a pile of money this is largely proceeding as we expected it would have with slow deliberation and we weren't planning on you know having installed in 12 months time or anything so I would um I would
just say that you know things aren't off the rails or anything close to that as of yet as far as our recommendation yeah as long as we keep the conversation open and moving that that would be ideal I I would hate for it to go on in a conversation in subgroups
and then it doesn't get presented again or we know talk about it for six months so just you know having some definitive idea of where one stands and what the next steps are would would be appreciated because and I'll say I guess I'm saying this for the record more than for anyone here we are sort of looking
ourselves like we're we're not done with our element of this we're looking for a little bit more guidance from the TC on which direction they think is feasible for us to take this and explore a little bit more um so hopefully we get that guidance soon um hopefully by our next
meeting um certainly I would think by the meeting following next um but hopefully by our next meeting yeah um so I don't think there's too much more to discuss here we discussed it amongst ourselves last time if anyone has any anything new this is the time though anyone have anything else on this
before we move to the next item all right um Circle procurement Village Park that's really tied in with the splash pad do does anyone have anything separate on that today well I'm just I kept it as a separate agenda item just because I want
to make sure that they weren't automatically considered as one thing we are very much still have on the table doing a splash pad either in the circle or elsewhere and doing something separate in the circle which is why I kept it as two separate agenda items and I I think that this the splash pad I
think we amongst us decided that inside the circle was not our ideal place for it and it's probably going to take years and years to get that so I would really like to move ahead on Circle procurement and not let that fall behind I think we
should continue discussing options for that since we don't want the splash pad there anyway um you know I I have the thing with the ideas um I well I think uh we have a new
member here who this is fresh to all the ideas are fresh to him um I did intend on meeting with him on Sunday but I had to cancel that's my fault so he's not fully up to speed as I had planned about a week ago um but we do have another voice here at the table um who perhaps
can support us and and help steer us on this so I think that a sort of refresh discussion would would be totally appropriate at this point today right now if anyone wants to it's really large enough for several things I know
actually Sally I'm so sorry I know what I just said but um the background is um I was like does he even know what we're talking about um so we did um so recently not that recently
anymore but in the past fiveish years three four years ago uh there was a new walking trail installed in Village Park which is something that Sally's was that just last year I feel like time is time is getting away from
me years okay it was finished we were talking about it five years ago we were talking about it yes um but Sally spearheaded it um and it was AE and the Parks Commission under her uh chairship was uh instrumental I think in getting
that project brought forward and um so but the point is that where four different legs of the trail converge they form a what we're calling a circle but it's technically an oval um and we see that space in the center of that oval as a potential location for some
kind of focal point for the park ideas that we have come up with are a splash pad although we are also very much considering that as separate for another location um which I think the the general consensus although not like unanimous opinion is that another place
would be more prudent for that the other ideas we had were for like a garden or a gazebo or a fountain akin to the one that's in Heritage Park SC sculpture or some sort of other Arts um we it we don't have you
know this is potentially an expensive project although some of the options are much more affordable and could be accomplished more quickly and um we're still in the sort of earlyish not not too early but early half of the the whole project um Sally take it away
please um I think there's enough room in that oval for several things and it's it's a rather large area I don't have the measurements in front of me but it's a rather large area so you know I really would like to see that gazebo kind of thing right in the middle of it and then
for the you know for next year if we could get that and we want it level you know handicap accessible with the ground not similar to the Gazebo that's closer to the lake but a flat one just so you might see some pictures in the back and um just with some shade there's no shade
over there um and then on either end of it since it's an oval then we could possibly in future years do a sculpture or plantings or something like that um but I'm just it it it it should be but um but we're calling it
Circle so you know I'd really like to move on that those those those um Pavilions are not that expensive you know Christina looked into the the prices of them and basically you put some papers down and then you put
this thing on and then event we can get a couple of benches in there and then something on either side or I I really do a agree Sally that I like the um like the smallish gazebo as a focal point for
that uh elliptical space I know there are concerns about overbuilding the park but I I just I don't see that sort of small area that's surrounded by paved walkway as an open space I see it more as an empty space and I think that it
taking the fullest advantage of that space would not be leaving it open for it's just too small for like you know a game of Ultimate Frisbee or anything or anything like that um I do like the Gazebo idea ideally I think you know if
we had access to water pipes we could do some sort of water feature or even I don't know but um I I think that the Gazebo as far as I'm concerned is what I want to be in my personal view to be the center and then I think there's room to build out on the sides like flowers or
or a smaller sculpture or something or a smaller statue or something um and like when I say a smaller statue I mean like in my driveway there's like a statue of a dog that's like four feet high um you and like the size of a dog I don't I'm not talking about anything large and and
Grand and ambitious uh but what what do the rest of us think is it do we want to move in that direction of the Gazebo or do we want to move in a different Direction so can I just ask for the if a water feature was on the table is there
access to water or no he didn't look into that I didn't look you didn't look into okay told okay I mean one the reason why I ask is because I was speaking to one of my neighbors and her mother was working on I think the rec commission at the time for the water
feature in Heritage Park and the original she explained that the original idea was like similar to the Olympic rings and water shoots out of them so the site in Atlanta and that's that was the intention originally for Heritage Park so it was somewhat of a splash pad
where kids or adults could walk through the water but then it turned into what it was so if if a water feature still on the table that might be a consideration to have something of that original idea of water shooting out of the ground and
like some design and it could dub as a splash pad somewhat or something like that so just something to consider if the option of anything using water is an option in that park or in that
area um Mike the other um sort of limitation we're working within is that the TC usually is looking for um they usually kick off the budget process and are looking for Budget submissions around October November and then they
typically have a meeting in January or February usually January where they uh consider all the proposals and make decisions on them and then the B the new budget year where that funding finally becomes where that funding finally becomes part of the budget is what is
that may may or April and then it's April and then but usually the funding doesn't become like available to spend until around May or June so that's the timeline we're looking forward to for this year and for any other year for any um Capital expenses we might have is the
maybe the ask would be if possible for next meeting if we could narrow down if we're all in agreement of the circle procurement to narrow down the idea or the design what you're thinking and then I could certainly work with a landscaper or somebody to give us other creative
ideas for that space with a gazebo with a garden with a four foot dog or whatever you mentioned and you know something along those ideas and go from there but we in that presentation there's a lot of ideas and we just need
to narrow it down to like two or three yeah okay um I think I want to hear from some of the members who haven't said anything yet on this wait I think availability of water is really important I mean at the end of the day I just don't know how expensive it is if
we're you know spending four or five figures to put some pipe under a few feet of dirt I I feel like that can't possibly be that expensive relative to the rest of the cost of the project but I also don't know anything about Plumbing installations
so wait for our our real goal of splash pad for water um and uh do something nonwater in there right now it's very easy I'm trying to come with something very simple so that at least we get a start on it
yeah but I I think water impacts what we design there because I don't think we'll be able to have plants there if we don't have access to water like it it is so brutal in the summer with um the watering and
the DPW has to drive around in water everything they're never going to be able to get back there right well not if it's not if it's a bushes you know a couple aelia bushes around it or something yeah I'm not thinking I personally am not thinking of a uh of an annual Garden or even a perennial flower
garden I I'm thinking of just a few little bushes around it and yeah you know the a a very low maintenance and similar to what's around the big Pavilion that's already there there's a few bushes around that we we really you're it's a really good point we don't
want it to have to require maintenance yeah yeah I I that's a very good point I you know I might have used the word Garden I think but what we're really talking about is some kind of vegetation which can take the form of flowering plants or or strawberry or some such
thing I mean unless we were to open it up to a troop or something maybe there's a troop that would want to plant some annuals in a in an area and tend it for the summer or something um you know that but but again I I think we need to focus on the main thing first which is is it
going to be a pavilion a statue a water thing or whatever and then the surrounding part can come gradually well I I have to I have to be honest other than a water feature like a fountain I don't see any other suitable item for
the center of space other than like a gazebo or some sort of shaded structure well a um replica water tower was mentioned if you I think that would be better off center in the sort of edge of the of the oval though I do like that idea but I don't think it's a good focal point Center I I
agree and I the water tower idea sorry I thought the water tower was gonna be a lot nicer um visually and then I saw a picture of it and yeah I wasn't wow but I like the Nostalgia noted yeah and I don't know
much about the size of the space but a sha another shaded spot does make a lot of sense I mean it's it's just this is a rough approximation but the the whole circle could fit inside this room I think or just about if it couldn't actually fit it could just about fit is
that is that an accurate assessment would you say I don't think it's as wide no it's not quite as wide in terms of length I think it's more an roughly as long as this room maybe a little bit longer yeah but another sa spot that eventually have some tables or seats or something under
it would be great because it's tough It's really hard to be like you said in the summer specifically being in the park is rough all right let let me ask and our our goal was to to lead people to that side of the park and if there's nothing there
except that trail without trees which Shay tree again was we need to talk to them again about planting more trees around there if that's going to happen yeah um then I think something with shade is I think it makes a lot of sense I like that yeah um just so we can get a
um I think we're just about ready to close this but can I just see a sort of show of hands or some other sort of visual display if you do not like the idea of a gazebo if you either have strong or lukewarm objections to it wait well just one last thing if
we're not going to have a splash pad then I I do love this elevated sculptural water feature idea like they have in Princeton um with those sculptures in that big reflecting pool but people are still able to go in it in
the summer oh I'm sorry uh you're talking about the the space on Washington Road on the University campus on the right if you're driving into Princeton yes but right that's like people use it as a like a Splash Pad but it's art I love that no so I'm I don't
suggest that we're going have a waiting pool I know that but I'm saying if there's not a splash pad I love this artistic water feature being in the center of that sounds like TC was not totally against a splash pad so I think we should still hope for that and a
little different in a different location I agree but I don't think we're going to accomplish anything by talking further about what we should hope for um which is not my way of saying s up it's just my way of saying we can't talk here
forever um I I said those words yes in that order but that was not the message Sally and I think you know that I my memory of this when when this comes up each time is that we all felt
sort of like okay a gazebo sounds like a nice shaded spot it sounds like an appropriate centerpiece and I think I would be in favor of it for that reason if the splash pad he's off the table though I agree with Kelly I think we all felt like we'd like
to be excited about something in this space so not to tie the two together or continue this like chicken and egg problem but it does feel a little bit like that right so like if Splash Pad is off the table then I would say let's look into the water question for this
space if it's not if it is on the table then I think we could probably move forward with either a gazebo or a couple of that would help us narrow it and maybe vote more positively in favor of something um maybe I should I I'm thinking now maybe I should have been
more forthright before I don't know where TC is on splashpad at the end of the day no one has said anything to me super authoritatively about Splash Pad inside of the circle but every Power of
observation that I have every sort of vibe I'm getting is that they're not going to go for it at that location but may possibly go for it at another location again this is not a representation that they made to me this is sort of my deduction based off of The Limited conversations I've had so far
and my limited observances of what their questions and concerns are um so I I mean I think it's pretty much we can count on the fact that they're not going to want to put a splash pad there although again I don't have that as a matter of official authoritative
opinion I think I don't know that it's about putting the splash pad there because I think we all felt like that wouldn't necessarily be an ideal spot but if it's not going to be anywhere this might be a space where we would consider something with water right not that people are going to be waiting into
but something that might have that feature and that feel whether it be art something else that sort of incorporates water in a you know appealing way for that space so I guess it's not necessarily the space for the Splash Pad but I think the idea of water or a water
feature in town within our AP s to me I would say if we had that elsewhere I wouldn't focus on it here if we don't and if it's totally off the table I would say maybe we press a little bit further on that for this conversation all right here's how I propose we wrap up this agenda item um
Christina do you have dollar figures for or Sally do you have dollar figures for the various Gazo proposals or do we just have ballpark numbers so I do have ballpark figures for the options in that package which I
don't remember what they are but um it could vary it could be from $3,000 up to our budget of 35,000 so like whatever however we want to design it we could then price for that right yeah okay so
and then if we have like a cap of how much we could spend we could work within that budget okay so we'll need to gather a little bit more information possibly from the TC I mean they're not going to tell a super authorit aely about like how much money we can spend right now but if we could get a ballpark figure of
like no more than $7,000 no more than $20,000 something like that um we can I think put our heads together between now and our next meeting get something circulated to us all by email before our next meeting so that we can look at sort of various sizes and shapes and
configurations and costs for gazebo and um make a sort of more conclusive recommendation on that at our next meeting it would that suit everyone yeah and in that packet there's also other options for shade that not are that are not the traditional gazebo look like
there's like these large you know flowers or leaf type things or something yeah they're like artistic but there's options in that pack so yeah I think again just if we can narrow it down to two or three items then we could figure
out what the design should be the cost should be Etc that is my goal and I think we can either sort of get that narrow down to two or three items already in advance of our next meeting just through correspondence and email or if necessary we'll if we we don't get
that far we'll narrow it down to two or three items at our next meeting ideally we'll have it narrowed in advance of the meeting and we can at the meeting select one um until then I think we'll move on to the next item okay so this was I I
will confess to being the next item is Heritage Park uh the holen Cody Foundation sculpture proposal I will confess to being disappointed at the discourse uh that the township committee had at their meeting last Monday
regarding the proposal of the sculpture and I understand and am sympathetic to the lack of information provided in advance which I don't want to Discount because I mean that's a big thing um but
I think that some of the concerns were not as consequential as or were treated as more consequential than perhaps they should have been did anyone else uh get a chance to uh take a peek at the meeting did you have anything you wanted
to share on it um I think I felt the same way I thought Noel did a wonderful job um very kindly and appropriately making the case um similar to the way I thought handled herself here and you
know I think I feel grateful that they are offering this to Cranbury and I don't know that that was expressed to Noel and the foundation I think it should be um so I was a little disappointed at the
reception but I don't have much to add beyond that I don't know that it's that productive okay so my takeaway with this is that um they weren't going to they aren't going to give themselves four weeks if they're already already thinking of saying no they would they would not imagine themselves needing
that much time they would say it at right then there at that meeting or or say it in two weeks time instead of four uh at the end of the day my sense is and again I have no official representations my sense is that this will get majority support that's three or four votes on the township committee that's all it
needs to move forward I am also very appreciative of the generous offer from the Helen Cody foundation for this origami crane sculpture and I do think that it would be very well at home in Heritage Park at the location they're proposing and I am not concerned about
precedent setting or um uh overb building the park um having said that I I do agree I I don't know that there's much more for us to accomplish here with further discussion although I would welcome anyone to add something here if they so please sorry were those two main
issues so I mean there were also a lot of like the 30-minute conversation was longer than I thought it would been um and also less conclusive than I would have assumed a 30-minute conversation to be but a lot of the questions were you know stuff that wouldn't have been asked
if they had seen maybe the supporting M material ahead of time um so those weren't so much concerns as like questions about like what is it made of do you have the vendor yes we do have the vendor um stuff like that who is it going to be installed does it need to go on concrete what if it gets wet stuff
like that there was some insurance questions yeah there was Insurance questions about and that thank you that's a very good point they did ask about um one of the township committee members asked about Insurance liability and Denise marabel the township
administrator did make a did say that um you know the township has insurance that covers things that happen in the park and that this may increase the likelihood I mean she didn't necessarily say that it would but like it's not impossible that
anything added to the park increases the likelihood or decreases the likelihood of an accident but that at the end of the day they have General insurance for this kind of thing and they are covered whether uh this thing goes in or not um their insurer could theoretically decide
like this is a huge risk we're going to charge you more in premiums but that doesn't seem very likely either yeah so I think the insurance issue was raised and pretty much settled as not something to worry or be concerned about yeah um I will keep in
touch with um the foundation and with the TC members and any other relevant uh Township professionals that uh are engaged on this and I will keep in touch with all of you if there are any updates or material you need to be aware of in
advance of our next meeting by email so just look out for that all right um sorry one is there something we could have done as a group differently to like present it or give our thoughts or gone I think uh I mean as a group we only
could have um made public comment because like our we weren't there as a The Proposal it they the foundation went with the Parks commiss and Recreation commission's blessing but they it did not come as like a proposal from The
Parks and Recreation Commission it came as a proposal from the foundation with our approval so I there's there's not much more we could have done I am sort of kicking myself that I didn't check my email for 36 hours and was thinking that if I replied to the request for the
documents sooner that the TC would have had them more in advance but these things do happen uh they've happened to me before and they will happen to me again and that you know um at the end of the day I'm not really overly concerned that they're going to say no to this I think they just need to wrap their heads
around it um but I as I said I'll I'll stay in touch and try to stay informed about how these things are shaking out and um everyone feel free to uh attend or observe at the time through the live stream or afterward through the
recording it's um their first meeting in April that they're going to circle back to this at the their first Monday meeting in April that the ton committee is going to circle back to this all right so if there is there anything else I was just goingon to say so the point about precedent actually and I think the
way this came up to us and when it was discussed at our meeting I think we weren't really sure what to do with it either right we said it sounds great we all feel generally supportive we think you should propose it to the TC and so I
think this question about like could we have done more and I think one of their main points and concerns was precedent and what does this mean if somebody wants to gift something to a park or a commission in town how is it handled actually that is a fair point maybe my
comment earlier didn't um appropriately uh capture that and I just wonder if that's some of the feedback we can get from them as they're discussing it in advance of the two meetings or whatever the the deadline that they I think they said two meetings from now um
if we can get that feedback and if other Commissions in town can get that feedback if something similar comes up how should we handle it if they're having those sort of administrative discussions in the background I think it would be helpful for us to know too um because to Kelly's point if we should have had AAS on there with Noel or the
foundation or we should have gone with it um as more of a proposal from us based on the presentation we had received I think we could have and would have done that Matt Matt uh Scott our our TC Lea
on was there at the meeting and he was uh I mean he took the opportunities that were available to him to highlight our support of the project he was the most vocally in support of the proposal and um didn't really raise any uh concerns or objections to it um so we did have
that going for us as far as press president I I will say that like if the precedent we're worried about setting is that if a foundation is established in town and does good work in the town and is well known in the town for what is it
been like 10 or more years now and wants to give us a free thing I think that's a precedent I'm willing to say um I mean it it's nothing but value added in terms of the the donation itself as well as the proceeding 10 plus
years of good work from the foundation to the town um I don't I I see how that could set a precedent but I think it's probably not a bad precedent to set as far as that is and I when I speak next with the TC members um I will convey
that all right um we are going to move on to memorial benches we don't have any new applications so unless Sally do you have something on I a question um to Donna that one that was going to go into Heritage did we ever get the application
for that and if so we need to vote on the wording on the bench and it has it been ordered yet because I think because we need to vote on the wording uh in loving memory of Barbara and I not going to buter the person's
last name but I got the the spelling of it and that's what she wants on it okay well I I agree with that E A I'd like to make a motion to approve that bench then and get it ordered and they have check the box indicating a hunter green double
border no a hunter green background so as opposed to black or brown um I have no objection to that if does that match the one that's right that's there already I'm not sure that it does I think there the other color I think the other ones are maybe a black
back you know more than I Sally I think I thought it was just the brown also I'm color blind so actually don't ask me at all whoops that would be my only concern is does it match the other one that it's
going to be a couple trees away from on Main Street there yeah I don't know we put it on the form as an option so I would feel yeah okay go for it then I think we should then what's the next step do we let the person know that it it's approved and um and then they send
their Mone and then we order the bench so does anyone have just well we don't need to do a formal roll call vote on this but if anyone has any objection please uh speak up about the uh the this particular bench and Christina any word on your
bench um believe it's ordered it's already ordered we approved it y just just for the record can you say what is you that your benches you're talking about oh a bench that was was discussed in last month's meeting
to go into the um playground area was approved by this group as a very generous donation from unor family which is in addition to the very generous donation of your time and efforts that you did in getting the inclusive playground uh completed then
it it would be my um thinking we could probably take memorial benches off of the agenda unless any we get any more applications yeah I just I mean I have to submit the agenda like a week or so beforehand so I just leave it on in case any new applications come in
in the interval between when I submit the agenda and when we have our meeting um there are also no other we know there are no new applications but are there any other old applications that require further attention yes all right so then we are done with that um new business
action items I have quite a few people to talk to about quite a few things business oh okay Sally um and and it's a a shame Matt couldn't be here but at the last meeting um if you recall we brought up the idea of the chest tables again and was that
brought up at the TC yes I have been told in no un certain terms that although some members of the township committee were willing or perhaps even eager to revisit that it's not going to happen is what I've been told and
um that's that's just that that's where we are I think the only possible future action item on this is sort of after action report of how this happened and what happened exactly but as far as
the decision of the placement it it's it's done regrettably okay so so they're going to put some in near the library great in then another couple years can we ask for some to be put in Heritage Park we can ask for anything we want anytime we want it's a question of whether we're going to get
it um I would I mean the problem is that the problem that I see is they're going to point to these ones which I don't think are going to be well used because of the location and say if they didn't work here why would they work anywhere
else um and by saying this on the record now I hope to sort of uh blunt that potential line of criticism because I do think I mean I I will confess to not being as wholeheartedly behind the chess table proposal for Heritage Park is some of
the members but I I do definitely think that the Heritage Park location was a superior alternative um and we can have a conversation about if we want to I mean I just I don't think the TC is going to swallow another chest table so quickly
but if in two or three years time we want to do it they may be more open and willing to consider it again um we can have further conversations about that and if I mean is that something we want an agenda for like a full conversation for our next meeting
or a meeting some other time this calendar year probably not I was just hoping to hear from Matt to see what TC said well I would love Clarity on like why do we do all of this work and then it it was
approved for one park and then a couple months later someone in the beginning of a meeting is like now it's going to be in this walkway like I think that that process would be great to learn about because I was on that path the other day
there's a picnic table bunch of water bottles on it was like oh that's going to be the chest table right here just putting your stuff on it leaving it going and running around parking lot and the transports but I do I think it's a bad decision but that's fine but let's
like not have it happen again so I don't know how we get that information I don't know either um I do regardless of the fact that it didn't go our preferred way I think that even the township committee
members are um I think even the township committee members recognize that this sort of took a life of its own in a weird and unusual way and I think they if even though I think the majority or at least a
significant minority of them are happy with the location I think that you know three four or five of them regret the way it happened and how it was handled um that's not something they said to me that's my sense of of what's going on I'm very
perceptive because it's like the third time I've said that today um but I'm not sure what we can exactly do you know we we can't you know sniff around and emails and call logs and
everything but um I think we've definitely made our view know our view known that we didn't like how it went down um even more than not liking the location I think we didn't like is that fair to say that even though we like the other
location we were more offended by the way it was handled than by the decision offended is not the right word we were more dissatisfied with um the procedure than we were with the outcome um and when I speak to the TC members if I if I
if we do connect which I hoping we will before our next meeting I will reiterate that in no UNC terms all right um new business good for everyone all right action items I'm going to apparently talk to everybody about
everything um let's see here um okay I didn't write down anything I have mine I'm GNA um again meet with Kathy Easton about Village Millstone Park uh I'm taking this on personally
I'm going to go and measure the oval and Village Park so that I can come back back with exact dimensions next time and I'm going to go to the EC meeting all right I am going to talk to the TC members about Chess also about
the circle also about the splash pad was there something else that I was going to talk to them about probably scul y the sculpture we that was the last literally the most recent thing we talked about so no it was the chest tables never mind
right and the sculpture too um and anything else I think of in the interval um I'm going to yeah I'm going to talk to the TC members I not sure I had another item um actually Mike I want
to send you some sort of orientation material that I had sent to some other members in the past so I will do that um for this is for all of oh I'm I'm going to talk to Who besides the TC members I'm going to
talk to the various groups of not groups of you you as individuals um about uh what we can do what direction we want to go in what additional information we needed to make sure that we have ahead
of our next meeting things written down on paper illustrations on paper or really not on paper and emails um that will be available for us all to review ahead of our next meeting so we can really make some decisions on uh Circle
procurement and I think that was all I had talk to members on Circle stuff okay um Ken what are you doing
getting summer camp ready to go I mean that's right now the uh full for Focus uh for us because you know we have to get quotes for busing uh hire staff um make sure uh the staff is
properly trained ahead time we we have a um joint Insurance Fund um trainings that they have to do so I mean yeah summer camp is is all in right now um go ahead is there anything that
we can do to help on any of that or on the field hockey no I mean uh I think you were copied on the email she sent so I can I got some answers from Administration on on some of those because uh we used to
run some camps um additional camps and uh through through a company and we had to change how we were doing it so I just wanted to make sure that Administration was okay with us having another Camp run and how they would how we would have to
go through financially to pay people and all that so uh on on the other things now like the busing company I I have to prepare um you know quotes for for all the busing that we do because the kids go you know swimming three times a week
and then the older kids go on two trips a week and the other younger kids go on another trip different trip during the week so that all has to be I have to do that and make sure but I I appreciate that that would that would be lovely if I could say here take uh take that over
but no um the the all right I I I do have a simpler I do have a simpler thing because the shirts yeah you want to design the shirts oh ordered a shirts that was easy um we did we were talking about a uh
Community event that we have not talked about and now we're we're gonna we're in the same cycle that we've been in you know the last few times it's gonna it's getting to the point where it's getting a little bit late in the game to to just to do that so um I can't remember who
was who was there was a committee a subcommittee for that by Community event you mean like a movie and whatever yeah whatever it was going to be we never even um determined what that was going to be but we need to start planning that so we can you know one get the
information out and make the arrangements and all that kind of stuff it's going to happen in the summer for sure I will put that on the agenda for next month's meeting um everyone come with your thoughts and ideas on that um I do have
one more thing for um DPW and I know you you talked to DPW the um little cut through inheritage park that is um near the Beamer Memorial that is has um wood chips on it the wood chips definitely need
replacing they they've all they're all gone and they've been gone for months and I know that I I mentioned at a previous meetings and they say oh that's regularly on our schedule we do that for regular maintenance but it hasn't been done in months so if you could talk to DPW about replenishing the wood chips on
that very small Trail at Heritage yep thank you all right I think that is it for Action items does anyone have anything that they oh we're all going to look up gazebos right
yeah and visit our preserves and Parks goes without saying um all right I don't anything else from anyone I want to please um I'd like to thank Brendan he came to our
senior luncheon last week and introduced him self he got to see how the the program was ran how lunch was served he actually helped serve the lunch so I thank you for coming and making a presentence because they were all like who is that who's that so I had to let
him know that he's our chair on Parks and wreck and so he got to meet a lot of our our regulars Betty Shirley so thank you for attending it was well received they were happy to see you thank you and might I ask you in addition to being a
deputy municipal clerk register registar yes and the Parks and Recreation Commission secretary you are also um assistant to the DPW um Ken's
assistant um I also do Senior Center Senior Center Director and I'm also um EC secretary how long have you been Senior Center Director like officially um I was January official but slowly
last year when Ken and I discussed that it was getting too much for him and then I took it over probably August like when Camp ran down yeah well then we are overdue in recognizing you officially as the senior
center director and we would like to thank you for your efforts and congratulate you on the role um all right for anyone who is watching this recording later I'm not moving to public com comment now because we moved it I moved it earlier on the
agenda it was done after the minutes were adopted and before we moved on to reports um so I'm not taking public comment at this time uh there being no other business I will entertain a motion and a second for adjournment i' make a motion we adjourn Sally thank you is
there a second all right we do not need a vote on this we are adjourned thank you everyone