Minutes for Meeting of April
24, 2006
1. The
meeting was called to order by the Chairman at 7:30 pm.
2. The pledge
to the flag was given
3. The Open Public Meetings Act compliance statement
was read as follows:
“Adequate notice pursuant to the Open Public Meetings
Act has been given of this meeting by:
a. Forwarding notice thereof to Today’s
Sunbeam and the Daily Journal, both of which were printed
in the January 10, 2006 edition of the papers,
b.
Posting notice thereof on the community events bulletin board at the
c.
Filing notice thereof in the Office of the Municipal Clerk for
(All of the above was
done at least 48 hours in advance)”
4. Attendance: Regular Members Kevin Garrison,
Meghan Hack, Bob Morse, Debby Turner-Fox, and Herb Wegner; Alternate Member
Dave Hunt; and Associate Member Tom Figlio. In attendance also was Norm Lenchitz, a member of the public.
5. The minutes of the March 27, 2006 meeting were
corrected to add Kevin Garrison as attending.
Upon a motion by Bob
Morse, seconded by Kevin Garrison, the minutes were approved as corrected.
6. Unfinished Business
Redevelopment
Status –
Bob
Morse reported that meetings of the Redevelopment Subcommittee have finished,
and a planner will be selected for
the project.
Public Outreach –
Meghan
reported the day a success. Debby, Tom,
and Meghan worked well in organizing the event.
19 people attended and 13 bags of trash/recyclables were collected. Al and Sam’s gave us a much discounted rate
of $5 per person because of the weather and the fact that it was a clean-up
effort. Donations from The Bank, Bank of
Elmer, Anderson’s, Garden Road Greenhouse, and Wawa supplied lunch for all.
Commission
members discussed the need to repair the dam at the lake.
Thank
you letters are the next order of business as well as an article to the Elmer
Times.
Possibly
next year, instead of hosting our own Earth Day event, we could help other
groups to diversify our efforts. We
could have a lake/river clean-up later in the year.
Ordinance
Review – Wellhead Protection Ordinance: nothing new to report
EIS input
for Checklist for the Planning Board: This recommendation takes existing maps
into account. It also includes a recommendation for
observations to occur day and night as well as for
a reasonable duration.
Site Plan
Review – Nothing new to report
Clustering
Ordinance - There seems to be some confusion about the ordinance. Our ordinance talks about saving 50% of open space for any given development which
would normally yield a 1.5 acre lot. The
current ordinance says that lots will be “a minimum of 1.5 acres; and as a
result of that wording, a site plan for a development was recently approved for
10 lots averaging greater than 3 acres.
Herb is working with the Planning Board Solicitor and Engineer to resolve the
confusion.
Natural
Resources –
Farmland PIG Status – Paulaitis Farm papers in SADC
review
Green Acres and other Open Space –
Appraisals for Renwick sent to GA: Briar Hill has
been done by one appraiser, will be done by another shortly. We need to look into the facts behind the developer
approaching the Board under the auspices of a “hardship” case. The sale is contingent upon development
approval; it is not owned by the developer at this time.
Tree Ordinance- Debby reported that the shade tree
advisory committee is meeting with the Township
solicitor. There are three issues. The content isn’t changing; there are some
issues to work out. Enforcement of the ordinance and the fee
structure may need to be changed so someone
can be hired to enforce it. It is
modeled from
Protection of T&E
species- No ordinance exists in NJ at this time.
7. Report on area meetings: Tools for Preservation
3-30-06 Woodstown Friends. Bob Morse and
Herb
Wegner
attended. Bob reported learning about
goals and objectives for a master plan that he found helpful. He suggested they be forwarded to members on
Pittsgrove’s Master Plan Committee.
8. New Business:
Reorganization Meeting:
Debby
Turner Fox made a motion for Bob Morse to remain vice-chairman. Kevin Garrison seconded
the motion. All approved.
Debby
Turner Fox made a motion for Meghan Hack to continue her position as
secretary. Kevin Garrison seconded the
motion. All approved.
Bob Morse made a motion to keep our meetings as the
fourth Monday of every month. Kevin Garrison
seconded the motion. All approved.
Members updated the contact
list.
Site Plan Reviews-nothing to
report at this time. Bob Morse made a
motion to ask the Township Committee to give one copy of all site plans to the
Environmental Commission. Kevin Garrison
seconded the motion. All approved.
Pittsgrove Day-May 20
Form
has been filled out and sent to Linda.
Tent set-up: Set-up is 8am-10am; cleaned-up by
5pm
Displays: Wildlife, Recycling, Information about
Earth Day clean-up
Environmental subject Coloring Table available
for children
Hawk demonstration: 1pm-2:30pm
9. Recent and Upcoming meetings:
4/26
County Open Space tour led by Christine Seeney; departing Pittsgrove Municipal Bldg.
at 10 am
4/26
4/28
Shade Tree committee has many plantings scheduled for Arbor Day
5/2 County celebration of 20,000 acres preserved
at the Battiano Farm in Mannington
5/6
10. Issues before the Planning Board: nothing to
report at this time
11. Communications: nothing to report at this time.
12. Member Comments: Dave Hunt volunteered to check
with the school about getting t-shirts made with our name: Pittsgrove
Environmental Commission. Perhaps
students at the art academy could help us.
13. Public Comments: Norm suggested that many
ordinances are already in place, but not always followed by the Planning Board. Things like farmland buffers should always be
followed, never waived. Solar energy:
designed to supply electric needs for the year; State pays 60% through electric company, and home owner receives other
incentives. Perhaps energy independence
could be a goal for our
Township. Schools in NJ are doing this
for no money down. Our schools could be great
candidates for this.
14. Bob Morse made a motion to adjourn the meeting
at 9:25 pm. Kevin Garrison seconded the motion.
All approved.