Environment And Recreation Committee Meeting

Environment and Recreation Committee Meeting Minutes Thursday, May 2, 2024 6:00 PM Present: Committee Members Liz Wyckoff (Chairperson), Joe Frederick, Dennis Livrone, Recreation and Special Event Coordinator Caitlin Hernandez, Borough Manager John Davis. Matt Urban, a Borough resident, was also in attendance. Ms. Wyckoff called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm. The Minutes from April 1, 2024, were approved as submitted. Liz shared that May is National Bike Month. Several events are planned, including a Bicycle Skills and Ice Cream Ride on May 19, 2024. It will be a family-friendly event starting at Burpee Park, going through the little trail behind the library into town to get ice cream, and then returning to the park on other low-traffic impact roads. Before we leave for the ride, we will review skills about riding on the streets in town. The TMA just received a grant to do school presentations, and hopefully, that will start soon. Liz would also like a Pump Track event detailing the how-to’s of the Pump Track. The pump track needs to be returned to snuff, so the event will be held later in the summer once the track is back in better shape. Liz wants to create a bike parking map to share with the public. Liz has an idea about creating Bike/Hike Path Connectors. These connectors aim to join the bike paths with quieter roads through town and ultimately create a loop around the town. Many bike paths surround the Borough, so making these connector paths would be relatively easy. The Township just got a grant to finish the bike path that will come up across the 202 Bypass into the Borough. We can include the paths through Chapman Park and use some of the lower-impact streets in town. Liz showed a map of the existing bike paths and would like to use this as a jumping-off point to create the connector map. Directional signage would be needed to direct riders unfamiliar with the town. Liz brought forth the idea for an Invasive Plant Campaign. Another Borough Council member noticed a town business selling invasive plants. This started a conversation about how we can promote the use of native, non-invasive plantings. Just because a plant is native does not necessarily mean it is non-invasive. The topic of bamboo growing along East Street came up, and Mr. Urban asked who he should contact regarding the enforcement of the Borough Ordinance that discusses bamboo. Caitlin provided the Recreation Director’s Report. The picnic tables have arrived and are being assembled for Broad Commons. Landscape Trackers, the company that installed the playground at Broad Commons, would like to have photos for their campaign. We will have some kids there to use in the photo shoot. Burpee Pavilion has been cleaned up for the start of the season. We have 13 reservations for the upcoming month. There are drainage issues at the pump track that are being addressed. The softball fields at Neis are in great shape, with dugout improvements coming this summer. Yoga signups are open. All the arts and crafts sessions are complete as of April 22.  Environment and Recreation Committee Meeting Minutes Thursday, May 2, 2024 6:00 PM Old/New Business Under Old Business, the American Legion baseball team was granted a fee waiver for using the War Memorial Baseball field. Under the topic of New Business, Matt Urban, a Borough resident, had questions regarding crypto mining and how the noise ordinances can be applied to these sorts of facilities. He has strong feelings about this sort of activity and its direct impact on the environment. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:42 pm.