hello everyone it is uh February 19th 2025 we're here for a meeting of the cranberry Recreation um the cranberry Parks and Recreation Commission uh let's stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to
the Republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible jce all righty can we have a our statement of adequate notice read 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 website and sent to those who requested a copy of this notice all right uh let's move on to roll call and report of our volunteer
hours Christina here 10 Brendon here three uh Katie here uh Kelly here
three Omar one more here nope okay Sally here too okay Tac here one
Fallon here one one and I'll Circle back to Omar in a second hello wait till you get [Music] Omar thank you all righty um are we ready for our
minutes uh the minutes we have our minutes our draft minutes right now from the January 15 meeting um there any additions or revisions to the minutes anyone have if not I will entertain a motion
and a second to adopt the minutes I move that we adopt the January 15th minutes and we have a second all right okay Christina yes Brendan yes Katie
yes Kelly yes Omar yes Sally yes deac yes and Fallon yes all right let's move on to our reports I um reordered this section A little bit just to
see not just to see because I thought it might work better flow wise um all right let's start with the report from our Recreation director okay um Department of Public Works was was out at the uh our open
space areas and cleaning up the the uh trees Fallen trees so they took care of that uh a couple weeks ago so that has been completed the pickle ball court uh the township engineer is working on putting together the plans for us to go
out to bid on that project um should say tennis SL pickup wall courts um so um that's in the works right now we hopefully go out to bid um no later than
April and uh have that awarded and and um started at sometime um early summer The Pavilion roof uh I I ended up having to do a I did a grant um request for
that because it's what we have in our budget is not going to be enough uh so we're waiting to hear back on that Grant application as to whether or not we got that uh if not I did put money in a capital request for from TC as well so
we'll have that money um to get that done at some point U later this year uh I have field hockey uh I did reach out to the field hockey um coach uh we have
a program proposal form that we've done in the past ask for any new programs just pretty much gives us the um basic information on what the pro program is cost you know what kind of area would
they need and that kind of thing so she has that we waiting to get that back so we can put together you know the program for that um and we're work we're working on summer Staffing right now uh We've made
some changes to our employment application um and that's now up on the website uh looks like the majority of our staff from last year are going to come back so that's good to not have a huge turnover uh and uh Donna is working
on uh finalizing the um reservations for our trips for camp and once we're all done with that we'll be putting together the uh the registration pack packets and get those up on our um registration
software hope to do that within the next couple weeks um so we'll be getting them out you know earlier than we've had in the past so is there um uh a deadline for registration I mean I know that's sort
of down yeah well actually last last summer we we filled a number of weeks um we we're limited as to how many kids we could take by the you know by the um
busing and Staffing that we have so uh it's funny Don and I were just talking about this so if we have a a bus that that can is a 52 passenger bus we only can take about 44 45 kids because we
have bring our staff with us as well so each each age group the two main age groups that we have for the junior camp and the senior Camp uh we have to limit it to about 45 kids um because both of those goes both of those um camps go on
trips to the pool trips during the week and therefore we have to limit so in last year we were waiting list for a number of uh weeks this this summer too we're going to have to start a little bit later because uh the way School uh
the potential was for school to let out um that last week in June and the number of our staff work in in um uh districts that don't end until that last week in June so we we're not going to start
until the June 30th for Camp uh so it's going to be six weeks this summer all right thank you um wait should we try there's like that whole week I think cranberry gets out on
the 18th so that would leave the whole week of the 23d with nothing to do so maybe kids would want to sign up for field doy if we don't have Rec Camp could we possibly look to do that yeah we could do whatever we could also bring in um the
US Sports Institute to do a multiports camp if if the field hockey instructor is not available that week we could do something that week at at one of the parks okay yeah cool all right if there's nothing further on this uh can we move on to our
Parks preserve updates um I have nothing in particular to report myself so let's hear from the group anything a miss anything Ship Shape they removed all the snow that was good nothing but how good was it SK um
skating right so fun I know that we can't control that but that was really good I don't I I'm I'm not recalling whether or not actually we are empowered to advise on rules for the
use of the lake and the new establishing ordinance I know the old Rec commission was I think um but in any case what are you thinking I'm not thinking anything I'm just thinking you said we there's nothing we can do to control it and I was I'm just thinking we can't control
everything that's a joke I I meant the freezing yeah no we can't control the freezing um except to the extent that we get rid of the ducks or whatever that's when we're on there I think we're empowered to advise you
know um yeah that was special empowered to make a hot chocolate stand all right if there's nothing else on Parks preserves um Sally can we hear your report on your attendance at the EC meeting yes I attend the EC meeting on January 21st they also had one um last
night which I did not attend because one I was sick and two we hadn't met in between but I have some correspondences that I'll go over with um from the January 21st meeting uh they told us stream cleanup is April
12th from 9: to 11: we talked about the walking trail on Old Cranberry Road between uh to the Pin Oaks Trail from the Eden house and how it needs maintenance and they they
um Mr reinfelder who's the chair of EC text me and said that they asked if uh jeret town has any extra gravel for that and but he has not heard back so they're they're going to try to
they they agree that that trail needs some maintenance um just to Dr down on that Sally if I can interrupt you mean that like it's becoming overgrown with grass and other items and it's a well-used it's basically a sidewalk but it's a
gravel sidewalk but we want to it was put in by Gateway to Cranberry and I was told by the township administrator that it was put in with no means for the town to ever um take care of it yeah but EC feels that it is important to be taken
care of so they're going to follow up and ask if we can maintain that great that can be maintained um EC is going to ask DCW about putting a trash can at the p uh Pin Oaks Trail uh they want to put a sign up in
the area behind the library that says clean up after your dog apparently it's pretty bad back there um and um Barbara Rogers was going to look into that uh e is going to schedule a rain Garden cleanup with the scouts in Village Park because that rain garden
needs cleaning up every year um the he got back to me and said the off leash Park the off leash and The Preserve won't work and he told me why and he says off leash dogs likely won't work in Cranberry book preserve because leashes
were specifically stipulated when it was established and because of the grasslands for nesting Birds would a corner of Millstone Park work he he gave a question mark so that's something that we're still talking about as an offleash area will a
corner of Millstone Park that's something we should all talk about personally I don't think that's going to work as an off leash area you'd have to fence it in and make it a dog park area and I don't think that's our intention Our intention was was an offleash area
so it looks like this um this this might not be going anywhere in town to all you dog people sorry did um they indicate if that was something they were in were did they indicate if that background information um on the um dedicated use
when it was first established was something that they came up with in their own research or were told by Township he indicate that it just as exactly what I read to you yeah okay I can ask at the next meeting for clarification that one offleash dogs
likely won't work in Cranberry Brook preserve because leashes were specifically stipulated when it was established and because of the grasslands for nesting Birds would a corner of Millstone Park work yeah I don't I agree I I I mean I don't
think you could do that with a corner of Millstone Park And as far as uh the last thing is Trail maintenance days we talked about getting a trail maintenance together and they said that they were going to look at their calendar for trail maintenance days in the spring cool and that's all I had between
the the one meeting and then I had emailed him that I couldn't come and we corresponded about those things any questions or things for me to bring to EC I've got nothing new Sally thank you for that um good third
report um does anyone else have uh anything to add here oh and also um this is kind of EC too but the um and to back up what Ken said the DPW did clear the trees that were down in pin
oaks and in yunami woods now we've had huge winds since then and I haven't walked through since then but the uh the old ones that were down are cleared so we thank DPW for that and also
for um plowing the paths in village and inheritage anytime we had a little bit of snow that was good they kept those so people could use them all right I did not um have any Communications with shade tree um I'm
sorry is that rapid for everyone on EC stuff thank you again Sally um moving on to shade tree commission I did not have any communication uh with shade tree um in the interval since our last meeting and there are no Representatives here to report so we're going to move on to I'm
still um scheduled to meet with Kathy Easton about the plantings in milstone park and it's just too early in the year to do that um okay and um that's it for sh Tre so let's move on to
our Township committee report which I almost I mean I did it on purpose but I reorganized the order of the reports which allowed um it them to be delivered last instead of first I'm so glad I did that timing um good
evening uh I don't have much report as far as Parks and Rec I would like to update everyone on the uh ongoing discussions with the fire department um just because I think it's important to sort of get this information out um we are in active negotiations with the fire
department to create a a possible fire district in town um and we were supposed to have a meeting uh this coming Monday but we're going to push it back a little bit I just want everyone to be aware uh the meeting will be actually on March 10th and I don't think enough citizens
in Cranberry are really uh taking notice of of of this process and so I just want everyone here and just sort of you know opportunity to publicly uh to um get the word out March 10th here or at the firehouse in the evening at 7 what's
that in the evening at 7M yep yeah be regular TC meeting um in addition I know at the last TC meeting there was a lot of discussion about the uh public housing mandate um just to let everyone know this is a very long-term process and it's a evolving process and um you
know we're working with with the state and and with a a professional developer to help us figure out where to put this housing and um you know we're still working with the cha and you know we're going to be you know partnering with them in in a certain aspect just want
everyone to be aware of that um a couple of things um the uh the sculpture or I know you saw that email uh Brendan from from Denise so hopefully the maybe at the next meeting um Parks can come and and lay out the details of that
sculpture so that um so that the TC can can um vet it and and uh and help you guide help guide parks in the the process of figuring out what the Helen Cody sculpture yes Helen Cody sculpture yeah thank you um and if if if you're
not available then um I'll be happy to represent um parks at the next TC meeting to is your next meeting this this coming Monday or the following Monday 24th so yeah this Monday yep 24th um so if you guys do want to come I would
um reach out to to Debbie Ruben and and Denise and let them know okay thank you uh and do we know when if that was to be agenda when that would need to be uh published the agenda is already at okay um and I think you guys are still
discussing the um the the water park water pad what we call it yes um so uh I don't know if you had a chance Brandon to reach out to the TC but um I think they'd be eager to hear about it once you guys have flush out the details a
little bit more um to to figure out for 20 I guess 2026 right yeah um that's all I have all right thank you is there anything Sally yes um is has there been any more uh
consideration of the chest table location uh not not publicly uh happy to hear any uh input that Parks has on on the location of the chest tables I know there was some movement at the end of last year to to maybe move it to the
library so um I think it's still an open question if if the new parks and recck committee has an opinion on it I you know I'm glad to hear it and I think that uh uh at least some of the members on TC would be amendable to discussing
it well I know um a lot of us that worked hard on that were very much against the location at the library um basically because of the lack of trees over it and lack of shade and we thought it would be a great addition to Heritage
Park um we also thought it was a dead horse so I'm glad to hear that the TC is willing to open it up again well I yeah I don't want to speak for the TC um as a body but um I feel like you know that that decision was made um to put it in
Heritage and then sort of at the last minute last year it was presented to the library um if if you guys want to readdress it I think that um the TC would be amendable to hearing it um you know the the chess tables are at the DPW they're sitting there waiting to be
installed so um you know it's just a question of where you want to put them so if you guys want to take it up again we vote or what do we do to get that going um I I have been told on
numerous occasions that this is not up for red disccussion that that is where it's going to be I have I have gotten pricing from concrete companies to install it at the library uh I don't think this is going
to go anywhere so um I don't know if this is really a prudent discussion yeah prudent or not I would just like to say please that I took it undertook a detailed analysis of the whole
history as I want to do um I think it was like three years so I went through every meeting and all of the minutes and it was a last minute Switcheroo with no um no notation anywhere so I'm happy to share that and send it to you um but
yeah oh good thanks so it was always in the Heritage and it was never um it was never on a walkway to the library so to the extent that we're revisiting it or revising the prior decision that it was at the library I vote that we should and
that we should stick it back in the original spot thanks yeah I mean I don't know that we need to have a a full discussion on it especially right now today um because our position as a body is unchanged from the last position we had and the last
position we had was that we had wanted it in Heritage Park we we never as this body reached a different conclusion and other things happened after we weighed in um which you know is is it is what it is but at this body never suggested
anything other than Heritage is that is that everyone's sense of the matter I'm happy to talk about it further but I just don't know that we need to or how beneficial it would be to talk about it amongst ourself further I think it might beh ho us to talk with some of the TC
members about it further maybe um but as for right now during this meeting at this time I I don't know if there's much to add that we haven't already said before and the other part of it was funding for this because the the installation at um the park was going to
cost more than what was budgeted for that so nominal nominal but it was it was going to cost more than what was budgeted so um I think that had something to do with the um switch over
to the library well um if unless we want to talk about it more um are we comfortable leaving it at leaving it today from our meeting that is and carrying on with any yes as long as our Lon can um will please um let TC know
that we did bring it up again and we are still interested in having it at Heritage Park if there's any flexibility or movement there we would appreciate that um I did speak um with I well I only spoke with with Iman since our last
meeting and I I didn't get a chance to connect with the other members um but that is you know an ongoing thing that I'm going to make an effort to do to keep in touch with the the uh tc5 and um I
will I'll make that the five members of the township Committee of cranbery Township and um I'm not sure if we've ever had a Vibe but yeah um one comment about the pricing please that could be adjusted it was I
think ranging from 1800 to 2600 for the three options that were proposed and if we have to move it forward or not use papers or something like that the same contractors that you're talking to can work within the budget so that was the
showstopper that can be adjusted yeah I I yeah I think we if I may speak for us and please let me know if you don't agree we just not necessarily very enamored or we don't put a lot of stock
on the idea that people will take a chess table by the school parking lot and the School tennis courts and the library parking lot to be a destination in the same way they might with one that's in a park um all right so if that's it um so if if I may
um would you be comfortable with me coming back to the TC and saying essentially you guys are going to maybe be address it at the next meeting in a further fleshed out discussion discussing costs and that I would be comfortable with that is or the other I'm not sure what you're
asking we should discuss it at our next meeting or we should go to the next TC meeting no your next meeting at our next meeting well I I think as Brendan said we're all we all feel the same way I don't think it needs any more discussion well I mean we may need some more discussion on some of the figures
and the timeline um and I I just you know I don't have any of those at my fingertips today I just from what I remember yeah we were in the park we had a design we came in I can't remember who said now we're
inherit now we're at the at the library and then someone said because the library asked for it someone else said it was too expensive then someone said it's a done deal so I
just feel like what are we talking about like are we really is it really we work out the budget can we back be back in Heritage or you know I just don't want to spin our wheels so we could work out a budget and put it back there but if it's always going to be the library then
I don't know what we need to talk about I would say Matt in response to that um I think I guess I and some I welcome some of the other members to do it as well we'll we'll talk with some of the other TC members and then depending on how that goes we may or may not bring it up
again here in this setting amongst amongst the Parkson Rec commission members um if that would be fruitful we will and if it won't be fruitful I I don't think we we would want to do that um yeah so good
everyone thank you Matt yes uh so I will report back to your reconsidering I would not use the word reconsidering where um looking at it okay still I don't know but like uh as far as our position I would I would not
report that it's our preference for the location is not exactly changed hasn't changed yeah so Heritage Park very good thank you I don't mean to belor this isn't the ask to TC to say if we were to get
within the budget you it'll go back to Heritage Park for Kelly's statement if the answer is yes we'll work on the budget if the answer is no then it's done put them wherever was decided isn't that the ask right so there's no there's none of
us to talk to TC it's really Matt going to the TC and asking that yes or no question right uh yeah I mean I I want to talk to some of them too about it or does the township committee like want to hear a
ground swell of people saying we want to play chess and Heritage Park yeah oh okay perfect and how long we how long have we had the chest tables
in our possession how long have they been uh few weeks yeah okay so it's not something we've been holding hostage no no we we ordered them in uh late last year got them in in January so it's not like the water fountain no it's not like that's I was gonna literally say it's
not like these things water fountains and and Public Works is not going to be in charge of of putting them in they're going to be put in by a separate company all righty um I'm gonna I'm G to wrap that that section up and we'll do
our our further work on it um I think that wraps it up for the TC and for Matt anyone else all right let's move on to our old business uh subcommittees we have um I'm
not sure that's the best heading for this at this point but it's the since I don't think the subcommittee met but the subject matter is the circle procurement Village Park anyone want to speak on this yeah so the last time we met we spoke
about um potentially looking at a splash pad in that area whether it goes in the circle or somewhere else in Village Park I'm confident the library will not want splashback so that's good news uh so in
your packet is the um Splash Pad initial discussion so the pictures on the cover are from Monroe that's my sweet little Lexie so um so I spoke to the Monroe
wreck commission um and two other commissions outside of um cranberry that have splash pads and they have expressed nothing but great things about Splash Pad brings a community together kids of all ages use it including high schoolers
in their summertime it's advantageous for families and households that don't have a pool um it increases the foot traffic in Main Street area so there is like a splash pad that's close to a main area in another town
those folks or those families after they use a splash pad or areas in the park they walk over and get a slice of pizza so that's actually similar to our town right so they'll go to Cranberry pizza or Market on Maine and grab a little bite to eat maybe with their family or
get an ice cream part of the um initial Circle procurement was to look at a statue a water feature shade a Garden seating and something for children of all ages Splash Pad touches on all of
those to some degree so statue there's different um water features that are involved some could be a mushroom we could think about looking at something that looks like a water tower in Cranberry Township or stick with the
traditional mushroom or flower features um it also has shade so some of the components of the splash pad have shade there's also a little bit of seating in olved um so touches on all of those initial requests of the circle
procurement um could be incorporated into a summer wreck program at some point potentially for children to use and is accessible so the area that we're thinking about was in the middle of that circle area so it's even ground it has
um a walkway around it Etc they don't necessarily need a fence but I think there's different rules about it so we could talk about if it needs a fence also um was talking to Sally offline there might be another area within Village Park that might be more suitable
than um in the middle of that Circle so there a lot of great benefits I'll I'll pause there before I go to the two options okay any questions so far all right so option one um and that's
just the coding I got it from one of the the New Jersey contractor c s on the state contract that has installed these in a number of locations in New Jersey the first one shaped like a circle to fit that area and the dimension it has a
cannon a spider you know Archway snake Etc and for all of the spray pad equipment concrete involving it and the plumbing specifically for the splash pad area is
$180,000 there is another feature which is called recirculated system so it kind of takes the water goes through this other system and then uses it again in the splash pad area chlorine and everything else is involved and that that's an additional
$135,000 on top these costs don't include the piping from the water source to the splash pad area so that would be we would need an engineer and somebody along those lines to kind of give us an
idea of what water source should be used and then quotes for for putting that plumbing in so that is the first option the second option is a little bit bigger um it has a water cannon a r mushroom maze
Jewels this is like a pirate theme we could go with whatever theme we like I personally like the neutral theme like the first option just because people might give Board of it and we could make it more friendlier to the cranberry
aesthetic instead of pirates but this was just another option I want to kind of give you guys an idea of what it would look like this is 210k and that recirculating system it's 150k on top of it so those were kind of
smaller ideas doesn't take up a lot of the space it's not a ice sore in the park it doesn't take away from that passive recre feel that we have on the other sides of the park um I I mean I think it's a great ad so other
considerations we would have to agree upon as a group is the location so we talk about where we want it my assumption is like Village Park is the place for it to be since there's a number of other great activities there um for the kids to use that could be the
meeting place for our area plumbing and drainage we have to get Public Works involved we have to get an engine involved Ken would have to get really involved on that um we have to talk about a water source and a sewer line which is in line
with the the plumbing I don't know if the health department has to get involved because there's chlorine and I don't know if the health department has to be engaged or not with something like this it depends on what system if you're doing to recirculated then yeah they're
going to but if it's just in and out out and it's gone then I don't I don't believe they would um and then the installer all of the installers that we quoted um or received quotes for I should say for the
inclusive playground also are installers and provide a a splash pad type of entertainment system so we can get three quotes from them for that and they'll be on the state contract um I put in Target installation
date of spring of 27 because there's a number of pieces that have to happen right we have to get the engineer Public Works Plumbing quotes bids Etc so there's quite a few things 2027 might even be aggressive I'm not
sure if we want to consider tiling so that like rubber pad that looks like squares then it's $35 per square feet the two options or the quotes that I shared just a second ago do not have any tile padding it's just a
concrete base so there's some splash pads that just have a concrete base splash pads in our area have a tile flooring and those that I spoke to said if you do get the tile flooring make sure you get it in cubes or squares so
the wear and tear is easy just to replace that little section um and then there's a water dumping feature that we kind of like I spoke about but we could make it look like the old Tower I know that was like a big push in one of our last
meetings um and that that's it that's kind of like the general initial broad stroke View for the additional considerations and then on the last page I'll let you guys read this on your own but it's just additional frequenting asked questions
that came up from other Parks areas so how much does it cost for the water each year the timing like when will the splash pad be open majority are open from Memorial Day to Labor Day and then they're closed so that would be the the main issue and
the maintenance is similar to a sprinkler system if you have it at home it has to get nitrogen to like um clean out the pipes and make sure they don't freeze in the winter and then kind of open them up in the spring so I'll pause there I went
through it fast and interest of time but it was kind of an initial thought based on our last meeting how many hours did you report I did I think I did 10 okay well done this is
excellent I I actually like the picture on the additional considerations page and I don't like those water cannons because little kids shoot me with those all the time shoot you yeah cuz I play on the these things and I don't like it
when the when they shoot at me yeah I'd rather just have you know just play for fun no competition was shooting there but and I'll send this out in email in color it looks really great like the first option it's like it's actually a mushroom umbrella shape with water
coming down and then um like little uh sprays so kids some children don't like water on them they just want the Mist so they have like that feature on there so there's quite a few options you said this uh these cover images are from Monroe right the cover yes is Monroe um
Avenue K is it fenced in this one is fenced in because it bumps up against another field like a sports field another uh spray park that I went to is not Fenson it's in the middle of like similar to a
to a the walking path we have here um but it's really up to our discretion if if we want and whatever the things as necessary if we need a fence then we'll get a quote on that I think this is this this would be
a real asset to the town if we had this um I think it would get a lot of use and enjoyment I think I think this totally it feels like it's an investment as opposed to a gazebo like we were talking about earlier it it really does kind a go well for like the long term which
which is great yeah and there is like a in one of the pictures when I sent out there is a a mushroom gazebo looking with a seat underneath so people can sit underneath there and in the offseason yeah and the off seon but even during the season yeah it's not activated
feature is that the water doesn't run all like eight hours it's like there's a um a sensor so a child would touch a sensor if he or she's on on the splash pad it'll run all the features are run and then it'll go off in 10 10 minutes
and then you have to touch it again and it'll go back on like the bubbles in a Jacuzzi and then does it turn off at a certain time of night so it's not on all night long yeah we would have to decide most of them close yeah yeah most of them close I think around four four five p.m.
I mean I know this is really premature but as far as location the reason why Christine and I talked about not in the middle of that circle is because one it's further from the water source which is which would be the um water fountain that's at the baseball field that's at
the end of the gravel lot two there's not a lot of parking right there um and there's no bathroom right there there's no portapotty right there we were thinking if it were in where the old ice skating rink used to be which is right if you go into Village Park and you go
in straight ahead into the gravel parking lot just on the right of that um there's a portapotty close to there there's a that whole parking lot is Right close to there and that would the only bad part about that is it doesn't it doesn't help us with our Circle
procurement idea yeah yeah but but that's that's far down the line is is location but I think it's things we should consider yeah the other consideration this might not go over well maybe is um the volleyball court I
never see that used I know it was just installed recently but I if that could be repurposed I don't know I know no I told you it might not go over a well so all right so scratch that IDE ktie would you like to chime in
as one of the wck Commissioners in the past yeah I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna call Kevin that was that could be the beach section exactly bring your towel and you're done
that might work I can I can honestly say that I was at the park several times this summer in the afternoon and evening hours and there were people on that volleyball court that's good every time I went there playing volleyball yeah
they were playing volleyball I will say I have walked past there with people were using it as a Sandbox or a Sandbox as long as it's being used as long as it's being used it's also it's like a like this it's a very seasonal it's not something no one's out there playing today yeah it's
a seasonal sport um I I I do want to um drill down a little bit on the location um because the more I personally thought about it over the past month or so since our last meeting I the more I was unsure about it
as a answer for Circle procurement I just was quite concerned about splashing and honestly probably more concerned about complaints and concerns about splashing then I was actually concerned about spashing itself because I just feel like if we decide this is the best
place to put it we are the public is not going to wear it they're going to be like how am I supposed to walk around the path what how's it going to work blah blah blah um it's not spraying outside you you have to experience it but you know children play and things
Splash all the same um the water water cannon that's going to scare some people right off the bat um I'm not like I'm not being playful or cute like that's going to happen people are going to say did you hear they want to put a water cannon right in the circle of the path and it
it would be problematic for us to deal with that um we can V now no Cannon no I I don't want to dismiss the cannon um but I I I do what do you all think do we think the location near the
parking lot and where the uh ice rink used to be is more suitable or or do we want to stick with looking at this as part of circle procurement expl okay so yeah this was like 25 years
ago I mean everyone in this room is that old um it was um so if you between the parking lot that you drive straight into when going into the park and the roadway that takes you closer to the lake right
between those two pieces is where there used to be a a like Port there's a gr there's a grassy area in between the the parking gravel parking lot straight ahead and the roadway yeah AR they all gra no it's there's a grass area there's
a patch to Grass there's a basball field that still exists and then the old one there you go here get that to they're not all gravel the one um closest to the playground is no I'm sorry see the grass area there
which one is paved one is paved the one the one by the playground's paved is it where the bike repair station is yeah it's right in that grass area nearest to that yeah that was that was one of the things I I had to purchase was that it's
called a nice rink I I used it and uh it it consisted of like a um heavy tarp that you would that we put down and had boards like around like an ice rink boards and we flooded it but the problem
was I think we bought it and then we had like four of the warmest Winters that we've ever had you know in a row and it never it never froze even even with just a couple inches it wouldn't it didn't freeze and then to store it we had to
store it in a barn in and out things get torn and and it it did work for the few times that we were able to use it but uh it just doesn't really get cold enough in yeah New Jersey for that so I think that that might be a
better location and I'd be interested to hear uh the views from some of the members on that one what do y'all think I don't have a view on the on the location but I do have another question but we can go around on location if anyone has it I do
want to hear on location first but I also want to hear what you have to say thanks I'm happy just to have it anywhere yeah I mean I think let's not get hung up on location I think I think we need to present the idea and
potential cost to the TC and they're going to be the ones that make the decision as to whether or not to fund this going forward yeah so let's not get hung up in the in the details yet but but say you know we know the price is
going to be around this price and that we feel something that we're in favor of and that the town would really benefit from it would you be willing to help us fund it or partially and look for Grants you know that kind of thing actually
that's that is where my my sort of first thought was there's an operational cost here which is5 to $110,000 for the water how does that typically get treated kind like is that is that something that uh gets you know added back as a cost that
the trust fund would have to manage or that would have to be that's something that would have to be discussed as well I mean the town has water bills from the parks that have you know the water fountains and they have water bills for
the town hall you know that that5 to $10,000 could be just a dropping the bucket for that you know that whole water bill that they have because public quirks has water build you know every building they have has water so Fire H I
think they got to you guys have to do something with fire hydrants I believe so there's there's that may be minimal but they may say look we we need to recover that that's but that's a that's for them to let us uh Christina I did
want to ask about this because if the additional upfront cost is put in for the recirculation system that presumably would cut down on the cost of the the water on an annual basis absolutely I mean there is some evaporation installation and procuring
the the system yeah but then you also have to maintain that system and factor in the chlorine that you're GNA have to add into that but it's probably less than the five to 10 I mean that's the what the f most likely yeah it would be
what's the life Christina if you did get uh you know some Intel on in both of the models whether it's concrete or did they indicate you know what's the typical life of the system itself the system and the features it's like the same as a
park like 20 25 years the the wear is on the pads the um if you go with the tile flooring pads those probably need to be changed every you know few years because they get worn yeah I I'm not I'm not overly familiar with a splash pad
because I've never dealt with one but most likely they're going to have to have some sort of pump system as well to pump the water to be able to get it to go through everything so those pumps I mean depending on how how long they're used uh they have a life of I would say
five to 10 years those those could be really Christina can you uh use your mic just for the record and then there was some other tubes that needed to be replaced like every other year like um like a sprinkler head almost like the heads of the like the heads of the spray
features themselves yeah yeah I mean I'm just talking from because we have a pool complex and you know some of those pumps last 10 to 15 years some of them you know you it's a pump it's got water going through it you know it's gonna
it's water is corrosive by Nature you know even if it's you know treated water and and so now those that uh that area is runs all day that's not like a sensor activation kind of thing right right so I I imagine that would add some life
expected save but I don't know but but those are things you got to look into th those eventually going to have to be replaced those are those are costs that are eventually going to have to be assumed so just while we're talking a little bit about plumbing and not
multiply um the quotes that you got this was amazing do most neighboring towns have bathrooms near their splash pads do you know the two or three that I visited did have bathrooms but they're much larger
Sports Complex if you will um see a lot of kids just walking in their wet bathing suits into the car yeah you know so the the other thing is I'm not sure if they said what the water line size had to be to to for that and the water
line that's for that water fountain is not going to be able to feed uh the the splash pad it's GNA probably have to be a bigger line so you might have to get it yeah you're gonna have to get a line water line from somewhere else which could be super cost prohibitive
depending on where it is might have to pull it in from the road so I'm just thinking about bring like a small family to use the splash pad on a weekend my kids have to go to the bathroom the second they step out of the car and when I think about like the
diapers and the bathing suits and the wet feet going into a porta poot I yeah it and then I I the porta potties that are in use by other dry humans throughout the year they're going to get pretty gross pretty quickly I think with the splash pad use if little
kids are actually my kids I'd be like get in the car we've got got to go home we're never coming again right because like you didn't use the bathroom before we left but I just think over time families will it'll be the next ask right and if you're talking about plumbing and the sort of infrastructure
and the big ass for TC I would love to include that as part of you know our location scouting and also the cost um that we're thinking about it might have to be done in phases I right highly doubt that we're going to get a facility with like a nice featured bathroom but
so it might have to be done in phases but it's it's all doable we just have to decide if uh if we want to pursue it or not and if we want to present it to TC I also do expect if we do want to pursue this that TC is not going to be very
interested in us pursuing much of anything else while we're pursuing this just given the cost and energy and sort of attention it will involve from everybody not well not the intention it will involve from us I don't care about that the intention it will involve from
the township professionals I mean if if we say we want this and then also three other things they're not going to like that so I just think and I I like I I like this anyway but um I just think we want to be aware of that moving forward that if we decide we really like this it may have
opportunity costs with some of our other project ideas yeah I mean I think we we go in with some realistic sort of timeline right to your point if it's spring 27 or spring 28 eight you can perhaps kind of be open to the idea that we are
realistic about what the timeline is and uh and then be realistic about what can be done before if there is something that's more urgent right as opposed to after this is on the table I mean I think there's a there's perhaps a workaround um if there are if you're
comfortable sharing I'm going to ask a few questions if we could just do like a show of hands does anyone hate this idea absolutely doesn't want to see it move forward anyone I'm not not seeing anybody who hates it does anybody hate this idea if it moves forward at the Circle does anyone have some
reservations that aren't sure about the circle and think that another location may be better because I put myself in that category okay so we got a few people in that contingent on yeah what what Sally said about the water source and what Ken
said about the piping so I don't think we could Zone in on a location we could maybe pick the park and then figure that out after I mean I I I agree with you I just I I the sooner we settle the location matter the sooner we can re
realize whether or not we need to keep working on on Circle procurement because if the location isn't the circle then that Circle procurement it doesn't have an answer yet I also don't think it it actually checks the Box fully for a full
year of what the circle procurement is supposed to be don't know that people want to like on a nice fall day sit and look at like a dried up winner eyes another possible location would be between the basketball court and the
volleyball court yeah I mean there there's it's not a huge thing so there's any number of places we could put it in Village Park or elsewhere where elsewhere um Millstone Park Heritage Park Veterans Park would not work you can't go in Heritage not Veterans Park
Memorial Park would not work I don't think you go in Heritage Park it's meant to be passive I mean it's as passive as a playground that we've got one there it's not like you know you have um you know Sports tournaments or games on
a splash pad I don't know depends on if we have a cannon or not I'm just kidding guys I know I'm saying I'm not well if that will depend on whether or not we have the pirate yeah I'm I'm against the pirate ship I am also against the pirate ship they're
they're bad people Pirates we shouldn't it was just a visual there's so many themes they're criminals all right call me woke but that's what they are I I do love the cranberry water
tower dumper um feature is I feel like that I really like that make Adam's heart sing if we have that water tower back in a park too um and I think that like uh like people who you know maybe
older couples who never had kids in town who never are going to see anyone they know or kid they know using the splash pad will feel a little like heartwarming by that feature so I think that's definitely a
plus um I could talk about this all night but don't think that's wise um so how do we want to do we want to how do we want to proceed here I think this is definitely worth continuing to investigate and and look at I I mean we're not ready to make a
recommendation tonight to the township committee I don't think um I think we're perhaps ready to Loop them in and say this is something we may seriously consider but I don't think we're ready to go and and ask for money or
SP space approval um so what are our next steps as the last page of the Little Packet shows I think we should think about the bathroom I think it's a good idea did you say that we needed sewer they need sewer too
there yeah all right and you you can do like a Christina can you put I don't think I don't think you can do that I think it needs to go into the sewer system um so so you're we're talking about most
likely bringing in water and sewer into the into the park from the closest location that it can be brought in which most likely will be the road yeah uh I'm not
familiar with the town and the water and sewer systems here so I mean I'm assuming those houses are on sept uh not on septic they're on um you know full sewer uh Township sewers so uh that could be very costly
uh so so much so that it would make the project uh you know like a half a million dollar uh project I mean so what I'm getting at is let let me talk to the township uh engineer to see what it
would take to bring in water and sewer to to that location to I'll just go with um that that could be restrictive too uh as to where you're going to want to put it because if you got to bring it in from the from the main road you're not going to want to bring it all the way to
the circle you know to be able because it's going to cost you a lot of money as opposed to closer to the entrance where the other location is that would probably save you some money so those are those are things the big item Big Ticket items that are going to um have a
big bearing on on this project so let me do that research with the township engineer to find out where the closest water and sewer tie-ins would be able to we would be able to get and try to get an estimate from him as to what the cost
would be to bring them into the park and you might find that those are cost prohibitive or they might be something you can we can work with it that works for me there's always grants too right possible Grant there's possible grants but I
honestly not unlimited grant money out there though either yeah and uh in the past month and a half the grant environment has never been more uncertain than it yes ever before so I I mean it remains to be seeing what
grants will look like in the future for the country I think Sally is saying that we shouldn't rule out a possibility based on price right away because funding could come from any number of sources so like let's be thinking big
and um whole project and put a bathroom in and then we can like whack things off if we can't pay for them especially if it's not till 2027 or 2028 you know maybe we can get money before that all right I do want to wrap this we can sell
bricks around it you know oh I like that idea I I do want to wrap this up um I I think the only decisions we're really ready to make tonight are one should we keep going and the answer I think is resounding yes we should keep looking at this and the only other decisions I think we're ready to make right now are
about sort of next steps as opposed to decisions about the project itself um so we've got Ken with his action item there um I would encourage us all to chat with our neighbors our friends our the people
we don't like who we run into all the time anybody in town who you have a relationship with about maybe this idea um you know don't go shouting that this is something that we decided and it's definitely happening but sort of get a feel for what the community thinks and
what the community uh what the community needs are um I'll try to do a little bit of that but I don't I don't talk to too many people in time and you mentioned um the engineer it's going to be at the park for the pickle ball tennis court is that an opportunity for
him to look at at Village Park at that time since he there well they're doing just specific uh survey work for the pickle ball okay tennis court so they're they're not really looking at that side
of the of the park okay yeah um I feel like I'm ready to move on but I also feel like there's one other thing we have to address if I missing something all right I just want to thank
Christina again for this back absolutely tically yes terrific job thank you so much um all right uh I left seen your interest on the agenda but I don't know why I did because I I'm not sure that there's anything to say about it am I
forgetting something I think when we met last time we were going to try to do a little bit of a recap of of what has changed since you know we discussed um you know the sort of graft of ideas and I think we said we'll at least go through the thing
things that Donna has stepped into in terms of initiatives and things like that like what's happening in terms of comms uh the calendar of events I think that was what we said we would do yeah I think I think Donna why don't you give us a update of what's going on
with the with the seniors okay so um due to the construction the senior center here has been closed um so all our senior luncheons which are usually second and the fourth Friday of every month is
being held at the public library um from 12:00 to 2 um the schedule well I should say the calendar is posted online and that is fluctuating because a lot of the programs that I have um implemented are from the county and they're free um so
I'm trying to get more free um programs if anyone has any suggestions Sally was gracious to do a program which the seniors absolutely loved they were so happy to see Sally there talking about her handkerchiefs and they they really enjoyed it they had questions comments
you know shared sentimental things about their handkerchief so anyone that you know wants to give a presentation at the senior center they would love to hear it um our numbers have gone up from 15 to about 32 in attendance um the
registration form is available online we've got 74 seniors signed up um mailers go out prior to the event they either email or call and respond whether they want to come or not uh they are only charged $5 for the lunch the
township covers the difference um the paid programs that we have range anywhere from $75 to 150 but the county programs currently we have a Broadway tap dancer coming in um in the summer we've got an Irish band coming in next
month um we just had a Storyteller an African Storyteller that got the the crowd involved you know up dancing and they love it they are so thrilled they're letting all their friends know that I think that's why we're getting more registrations in um so so far all
positive 2025 is our building year because the fact that we are slepping to the the library um the seniors are hoping that we can do a little revamp to the senior center and almost like have a unveiling um sometime next year when
the parking lot's open and they know that we can only fit 30 people in the senior center as is and they're not looking to move in the lunches back there because right now we can fit 90 people at the library and we don't have to turn anyone away so they're hopeful that we could utilize the senior center
for smaller programs whether it's exercise programs via Zoom game days you know stuff of that nature so they're very accepting of having the lunches continue at the the library but they still want to use the senior center for
smaller venues um so it's all positive feedback that I've been getting because I go every luncheon I sit with them talk with them get their suggestions we do a little birthday club one you know one Friday a month celebrate whoever's birthday is that month and then some of
them don't have people to you know sing to them so they get excited they get a cupcake and so a lot of positive things going forward what I thought was interesting um when I was there was uh the number of residents from the brand new development at the end of petty road so we're bringing
those seniors in too and that's a good way to incorporate them into our community excellent that so I I just wanted to make a comment uh actually two comments one um it's it's really great to hear all of the things that are happening because if we go back to what we had
identified right there were a lot of things in here um that we said were problems so I just want to quickly recap right we said communication and access to information was unwieldy and that it needed Improvement some of those things tactically we said your programming
information on the website is hard so that's been you've addressed that it's up there um a PDF or some sort of website references to be more visible you you said that that's more visible now um Flyers were not going out in time
now it's much much more in advance and part of that was because there was no calendar or roster that was looking at the year uh I know from personal experience i' I've seen now you have a yearlong roster some things are open uh but that's because you're trying to sort of you know work with the uh the county
and you know try to fill slots where there are free events in addition to paid events uh but the fact that you do now have that roster at least you know more than 50% of the way filled uh helps that the Flyers can go out in advance
um there was a second broad category we said programming can and should be refreshed with attention clearly I think we've we've heard it now there's there's lots of new things that have happened and that's translated into uh obviously more sort of uh not just cranberry residents but also from neighboring you
know towns as such so that's to me I think when we had this conversation last year it was people from here are looking at what other towns are doing if you're now attracting people from the other towns and the neighboring towns that is obviously a good sign as well and then the last thing which I think compliments
to the the town um we we we did make the suggestion that Personnel support was needed to give some dedicated time Ken not taking away from all of your hard work and and the fact that you were you know you were doing this not just as a side of desk
but you know in addition to all of your other responsibilities but clearly you know Donna you're sort of taking on that role meets that suggestion that we made um and that in turn serves you know you as the point of contact who's able to sort of coordinate with everybody being
the face of it um again compliments to the town for having made that happen so all in all I think this is one group that we had done some work um Kelly myself and fonet Spen some time curating what we thought came from the senior center survey and a lot of that has kind
of gone into implementation obviously like you said 2025 is a Bild year but hopefully it does kind of translate into a better you know experience with the senior citizen yeah I think that's all great stuff um well done everyone anyone else on the senior
interest item any else uh anyone wants to hear on the senior interest item all right let's move on to the milstone park Memorial Stone plaque thing I'm just going to meet with Miss Miss Eon and I haven't done that yet
I'll do that keep it on the agenda though please we'll do um and we and we talked about that earlier um Heritage Park the Helen Cody sculpture we also talked about that earlier I don't have any new applications for memorial benches that's not
true it's actually chrisa me so do I make a public comment to talk about it or or it's on the agenda let's see here we've got a um commemorative bench application here
um in the original design of the inclusive playground it was three or four benches that were supposed to be the same color and the aesthetic of the inclusive playground those were taken out for Budget reasons so my family would like to donate one of those
benches that matches the inclusive playground and have a plaque that says um play for all abilities so that was is so there was no other application for that so I used the memorial bench form all right um let's
see here so your your wording that I saw said more more than that were you going to have more than that on it I've got a play for all billies exclamation love Lexi faas and family that that's fine I I did notice
just um detail wise that you didn't have any Capitals in that I saw that I didn't to be hon I didn't take much time right in the Grid it's not properly capitalized but then underneath uh in the caption it it
is just want to make sure that you get you know those cakes that they make in the grocery store and people put some something in the comments and then it comes out like that um so did you say you said one bench yeah one bench um and which
orientation did you want it um I don't remember where there was there were four so I'm able to choose one of the four spots like that's fine facing the the playground yeah yeah
well what do we think everyone well I I'd like to um approve the idea and I'd also like to when we get the cost because I have a feeling it's substantially more than the regular benches I could be wrong but um people
are always looking for places to put benches so if there are still room for three more in that area I'd like that to be noted somewhere so that when someone's asking to put a bench in at Village Park we can give them that as an option even though it's not one of the
benches that goes around the walking Track it's going to look a little different it's going to go into the new play area and I'd like Christina to be the first uh yeah I think this this is great I think um can we just like do a little show of hands does this have our
blessing all right looks good um a follow up on are we finished yeah a follow up on the other ladies bench that was going to put in Heritage Park did you speak to her Donna about location oh yes and she said that it's okay where you guys want to she said when she met
with you you showed her where and she's okay with the which is going to be on on the street kind of at the corner okay good so when it the bench comes in you'll have to um contact Jerry and have
him contact me and we'll talk about that thank you I'm not familiar with how these benches have plaques attached to them um yeah there's um I spoke to the
contractor so there's adhesive that goes on the plock that goes right on so they can do that on a like um rubber coated uh bench because that's probably what yeah okay yeah and then um he also said so the the
installation like I don't we'll have to talk about as a group it's it's different than installing a regular Memorial bench because it's got to go into the whatever that is the the rubber surf yeah the surface so there's a will the person who put the playground yes
he'll have to come and put in so there's an additional cost for that yeah work and is that are you including that in with your bench that cost pay for the installation and the bench okay thank you very generous thank you thank you
indeed um I think that we are ready to move on Sally um for finish with benches oh okay yeah um I noticed the life preserver is not in yet in uh Memorial Park as we drive by that um Mr Jacobs if
you could follow up on that again especially with the uh possible ice around you know it's sitting in my office I gotta get it to uh well if you could put it on your TTD list I think um
if it saves a life it's better in the case than in someone's office all right on that note um shall we move on to our action items all right I have Ken talking to the engineer on the matter of the splash
pad Sally to attend the next DC meeting if there is one I'm not sure actually that there will be I don't know and to talk to Miss Easton yeah and talk to Kathy Easton of the shade tree committee on the matter of the um the vegetation
for the the memorial in milstone park um I am going to talk to I don't know the township committee or the Township Clerk about um getting the Cody Foundation sculpture
proposal before the GC um the benches who is that um Don do you handle the next steps on that or or do I need to contact somebody I'll get the pr it's got to be
one for the that's for the playground so I'll I'll get the price for that okay you didn't reach out to him did you oh you did you talk to Mike oh okay so he called Mike okay so you got you got all the costs yeah okay
there you go nobody has to do anything you just have to talk to each other all righty um we've got K with the life preserver Christina and km will talk about the bench information
[Music] um um I I'll work with um Sally on the circle procurement sounds we still have to do that okay all right what else do we have anything I think we said Matt you take
the the message back to Town Council on chess back to the chess tables tabl yeah right I think we said we at least share the we're trusting you it's been two years the
weather all right who's gonna be responsible for making sure the lake freezes again this winter me okay we'll put that on you I um I don't have any others that that I've written down or that come to mind um anyone else have one that we
missed all right then um let's move on from action items to our section on public comment we do public comment for the public they can speak for three minutes um I'm G to open up public comment there's no one here I'm G to
close public comment and um we are ready to adjourn so if we have a a motion and a second on that that's all we need I'll second it all right folks we are adjourned