Holmdel Environmental Commission

HOLMDEL ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION Minutes of the Regular Meeting Wednesday, February 12, 2025 OPENING STATEMENT: “I hereby announce, pursuant to Section 5 of the Open Public Meetings Act, that adequate notice of this meeting has been provided on January 10, 2025, to the Asbury Park Press and the Two River Times. Notice has also been posted in the entrance of Town Hall, filed in the Clerk’s Office, and posted on the Township’s website, www.holmdeltownship.com, all pursuant to Section 13 of the Open Public Meetings Act.” Roll Call Members Present: Karen Strickland, Chairperson (via telephone) David Wolff, Vice Chairperson Ralph Blumenthal Wes Fagan Anthony Salerno Gary Vanderham Loretta Coscia, HEC Secretary Absent: Jill Perez Randy Rauscher Janet Jackel Pledge of Allegiance Moment of Silence to Honor Military and Police Who Have Been Wounded or Killed in Action Environmental Commission Business  Draft Meeting Minutes – January 15 Minutes approved 2/12/25  Regional Watershed Forum – The HEC hosted and organized the 2nd Regional Watershed Forum consisting of neighboring municipalities including Aberdeen, Keyport, Matawan, Marlboro, Colts Neck, Keansburg and Hazlet at Holmdel’s conference room at Bell Works. The guest speaker was Christopher Obropta from Rutgers. He gave a great lecture encouraging our towns to take advantage of the services they offer. The engineer assigned to our district is willing to have a breakfast meeting with all of the stormwater coordinators to discuss how she can assist with mapping and other requirements of the MS4Permit. We need to find out who in Holmdel is appointed as Stormwater Coordinator. Also discussed was identifying a name for our combined group, finding a project that all of the towns will commit to, as well as setting up the next meeting date (March 27) when a representative from the County Planning Office will show us the current mapping service available.  Land Conservancy /Natural Resour ces Inventory – Barbara Davis from Land Conservancy has been ill, but she expects her team to have a draft to us very soon.  Update – The New Jersey State Development and Redevelopment Plan (SDRP) , or State Plan. Karen spoke with the County Planning Office to find out the status of the current draft of the state plan. The state is going through a process called Cross Acceptance. A draft plan has been created and will be sent out to all counties. Each country is supposed to have a meeting to solicit input from all of the stakeholders. The Monmouth County meeting will be held on March 31. Before that time, each town has been invited to create a team of 3-4 people  to examine the draft plan, particularly the mapping, and to provide their comments to the county. Karen reached out to Mayor Foster to identify who would represent Holmdel and offered the assistance of the HEC. Even if not appointed by the Mayor, we can each comment at the March 31 meeting. The state plan can be found at Office of Planning Advocacy https://www.nj.gov.state/bac/planning/  Status /Tree Ordinance – Steven Winters forwarded the final draft for review by the HEC. Karen reiterated to Steve that the HEC wanted the fines for replacing trees to be punitive enough to discourage people from not replacing them.  Status /Grading and Drainage Ordinance – Steven Winters will forward the revised draft ordinance upon completion.  Community Energy Planning Grant Meeting at Bell Works – Participants shared their level of knowledge about bringing down emissions. The group then selected some draft initiatives to focus on. The Green Team created Google docs for people to share with initiatives to focus on. The next meeting will be held on February 18. Wes attended and stated that they are trying to narrow down the focus to three or four initiatives for a grant of $10,000.  Stormwater Coordinator – memo sent to the Mayor to find out who was appointed.  Township Newsletter Article – Janet and Karen put together a draft article for the newsletter. Loretta will send to Brian O’Malley for publication. Zoning Board Danny Realty, LLC, Block 51.01, Lots 1, 2 & 3, 2122 NJSH Route 35 & Laurel Avenue Applicant proposes a convenience store with Dunkin Donuts Restaurant presently a fuel station. Application scheduled to be heard on March 19. After reviewing the proposed application, it was noted that the applicant’s plans included removing a treed area on the property and replacing it with a lawn. Karen will draft a memo to the Zoning Board on behalf of the HEC about our concerns. Adjournment There being no further business at 8:00 p.m. motion by Gary seconded by Ralph to adjourn. Motion carried on voice vote. Respectfully submitted, Loretta Coscia Loretta Coscia HEC Secretary Proceedings recorded Minutes approved 3.12.25 (RB/AS)