Open Space, Recreation & Historic Preservation Advisory Committee

OPEN SPACE, RECREATION AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES April 17, 2013 NEXT MEETING: May 8, 2013, 7:30 PM, Committee Room at Hartley Dodge Memorial Building. Please notify the Chair if unable to attend. NOTE: Vivian James from METC will give a presentation on the Museum’s Preservation Plan. PRESENT: A. Baillie, C. Coultas, P. Hiscano, M. Honohan, C. Kellogg, J. Mullins, B. Van Ryzin Guest: Councilman Ben Wolkowitz MINUTES: Motion made and passed to accept the minutes as written. Mullins/Kellogg WEBSITE: Website has been updated. MAY DAY: A. May Day - May 4th B. All Open Space Committee members are encouraged to participate. C. Arbor Day event scheduled and sponsored by FMST and STMB and Garden Club of Madison. Melissa will sign us up with Lisa Ellis. GREEN FAIR: A. Scheduled for May 9th, 3:30 PM to 6:30 PM and we are signed up to participate. B. Location: Green Village Road in front of METC. C. Will Biking Map be available – reach out to Bob Vogel. D. Do we want to have a survey? E. Other handouts available for bikers and walkers. F. Melissa asked for volunteers. G. Program 1. 2 20”x30” posters for OS 2. 2 20”x30” posters for HPC 3. Chris Kellogg will have tours of his home EVENTS UPDATE: A. GSWA is co-hosting a meeting on Climate Change. B. Judy Mullins reported that Morris County is No. 1 in vacant office space. Jim Jones, Executive Director of the Morris County Economic Development Commission is giving a presentation on May 31st on Economics and Alternatives. OPEN SPACE, RECREATION AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION TRUST FUND DISCUSSION:  A. Presentation given by Councilman Ben Wolkowitz. B. Discussed different options for the Fund. C. Can be easily reduced but not increased so need to think carefully before changing the .02 per $100 in property value. D. Madison Athletic Foundation (MAF) has been given the field user and rental fees to pass on to the Borough to be collected to pay down the field’s debt. E. Bonding expense – advice from Bond Council – Borough takes on all expenses except $990,000 for which MAF is responsible. F. Should there be a review of user fees? Could use some of the additional revenue to maintain other fields. Peter Hiscano will check on fees that other communities charge. G. What is indicated in the Master Plan, particularly the areas that have been contaminated at the MRC and Bayley Ellard. 1. Areas can be covered by parking lots 2. More parking is needed for MRC activities. H. Bob Landigan will lead an ad hoc set Committee. I. Could general fund or Open Space Fund be used for remediation? The Committee’s consensus was that the Open Space Fund was not appropriate for remediation. J. Councilman Ben Wolkowitz suggested the OS Committee develop a consistent reporting on Fund activities to the Mayor and Council and would include what has been spent and the current Fund balance. K. Must make process clear. L. METC is expected to apply for $60,000 APPLICATION REVIEW: The Committee did a quick review of the draft application. The Chair will make changes and resend to the Committee. ADJOURNMENT: Respectfully submitted, Cathie Coultas, Recording Secretary