MINUTES
OF THE
ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION
CRANBURY, NEW
TIME AND PLACE OF
MEETING
The regular meeting of the Cranbury
Township Environmental Commission was held in Town Hall on May 16, 2005
at 7:05 p.m.
CALL TO ORDER
With a quorum present, Pete Sibley,
Chairman of the Cranbury Township Environmental Commission, called the meeting
to order and acted as the Chairman thereof, and Linda M. Scott acted as
Recording Secretary of the meeting.
STATEMENT OF ADEQUATE NOTICE
Pursuant with the Sunshine Law,
adequate notice in accordance with the Open Public Meeting Act (N.J.S.A.
10:4-6) was provided on January 4, 2005 of this meeting's date, time, place,
and agenda, was mailed to the news media, was posted on the Township bulletin
board, was mailed to those requesting personal notice, and was filed with the
Municipal Clerk.
MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE
James Gallagher, John
Kobland, John Reinfelder, and Peter Sibley; Chair.
NON-MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE
Connie
& Bill Bauder, Anna Drago, Kathy Easton, Beth Veghte, Kayathri Thangavelu,
Katy Birckmayer, Barbara Rogers and John Pumis (arrived 8:25pm).
MINUTES
The minutes of the April 18, 2005
meeting were reviewed, amended, and approved on a motion by Pete Sibley, second
by James Gallagher, all in favor.
DISCUSSIONS
Several
citizens were present to express their concern and dismay at the subcontractor
working on the Wright South property, cleaning the debris from the site, and
the moving of the soil. Some of the soil
on the site has been shown to contain arsenic.
Pete Sibley informed the citizens that he would contact
Beth Veghte of the Parks Commission
was present to discuss the Cranbury Preserve signage. The Parks Commission
would like to have the rules and regulations posted so enforcement is
possible. Beth proposes signage at the
entrance from the drive near the soccer fields. EC is also interested in posting the rules
in a kiosk with other pertinent information to the Preserve. There is a separate ordinance for the
Preserve, different from the Park Ordinance.
Additions and deletions on the signage were discussed. Beth will return to the EC after drafting a
list of the rules specific to the Preserve.
The Project Volunteer List for EC
should be forwarded to the liaison of the Township Committee. Pete will contact Rich Vincellette regarding
their car wash fundraising schedule.
The Presbyterian Church also holds car washes, but they will call the EC
when they have a car wash. EC will
donate environmentally friendly soaps to this type of cause. Inlet protectors should be available for them
also.
Pete informed EC that a Princeton
H.S. student and Cranbury resident, Jill Westerberg, designed a car-washing
flyer as a class project. Pete worked
with Jill directing her to informative web sites for her information flyer,
which was passed around for the EC to review.
This flyer will make a great insert for the next newsletter and as a
giveaway at carwashes and on Cranbury Day.
In addition, it doubles as a part of the required new stormwater
regulation. It appears that the High
School is an untapped resource where the teachers and youth may offer
opportunities to interact with the EC.
The NJDEP Matching Grant (ES05-034)
was approved for the Surface Water Sampling and Evaluation. Roll call for the required resolution was
made with James Gallagher, John Kobland, John Reinfelder and Peter Sibley present,
4 Ayes, James Applegate, James Golubieski, William Mikula, and Thomas Patterson
were absent. Secretary will forward all
required forms to complete and ensure the funds. July 1 marks the date when the actual work
can begin testing Cedar Brook above and below the landfill area. Bill will develop a plan for the sampling of
Cedar Brook.
There have been 15 soil test kits
distributed to residents, with three samples tested. EC can obtain the results. There was concern about the kits being taken
by residents but not being submitted for testing. Secretary has a record of phone numbers, who
picked the kits up, and when. Pete will contact
Josh Appelbaum of the Cranbury Press to inform him that there are more testing
kits available for residents.
Kevin Van Hise, an attorney, looked
at the Mt. Laurel Soil Testing Ordinance and advised that such an ordinance is
within the legal authority of the Township and could be adapted for
Goals for 2005 were reviewed. The drafts of the Municipal Stormwater
Management Plan and the Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan have made progress
and have been submitted to the County for review. Annual report has been submitted. Public awareness brochures will be
distributed via newsletter as part of the outreach requirement. On June 9 there will be discussion of the Stormwater
plans and ordinances during the Planning Board meeting, which Bill and Tom will
attend. The labeling of the storm drains
needs to be resumed, and we want to provide door hangers for educational
outreach. John R. will design hangers
specific to Cranbury.
John K. will call ANJEC for
additional information that may benefit the EC table on Cranbury Day. He will inquire about obtaining a loaner
threefold display board for this day.
In March 2005, Betsy Clarke and
Laura Coover of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) along with
Jim A., Dave Stout, and Pete Sibley walked the Cranbury Brook Preserve. A management plan will be drawn up for the EC
to review. It was stated that the season
for seeding has been missed and that mowing of the Scout Field will continue
through until seeding time. Jim informed
the secretary that he did receive information from the NRCS but not the draft.
Pete asked Katy Birckmayer, who
expressed interest in working for the EC, to develop a map of the Preserve showing
details of trails and such for display in the kiosk. It appears that no digital map of this area
is available to use as a starting point.
The consultant that we get for the ERI may be able to provide this.
The
development of a Stream Corridor Ordinance has endorsement from the TC. Bill M. has been dedicating his time, but
needs a volunteer or two to help with or take the lead.
The ANJEC
Grant has been approved for the ERI. It
is not as much as requested, but ANJEC did provide a few recommendations of
consultants that are capable of doing this at approximately $10,000. Leg work by the EC, Township employees, and
volunteers will help keep costs down.
Pete will solicit proposals from consultants and will then be looking
for a lead to carry on with this project.
Pete opened
discussion with the three candidates for the open alternate position. Kayathri, Katy and Barbara are residents and
spoke of their desire to join the EC.
The NJDEP
is offering low-interest loans for lake dredging. The TC asked EC for a recommendation. This
was last done approximately 30 years ago.
There is concern of what would happen with the dredged sediment. Despite the shallowness, there is no problem
with overgrowth of vegetation. Pete will
contact Cathy M. and David S. about the recommendation.
APPLICATIONS
ZBA086-05,
Sandra Majeski, Block 20,
PUBLIC COMMENT
Concerned
citizens reiterated the issue of the Wright South property and the
subcontractor doing the clean up. They
also stated that there is a summer recreation program involving many kids. They
would like to have the kids relocated to another place while work is being done
at this site. Pete stated that he would
contact Cathy M. to inform her of the concerns from the citizens and the
environmental issues on this site. A
remediation plan endorsed by the EC has been forwarded to the NJDEP that awaits
approval.
CLOSED SESSION
The EC went into closed
session to discuss personnel matters (potential new member).
ADJOURNMENT OF MEETING
There being no further business, on motion duly made,
seconded, and carried, the meeting was thereupon adjourned.
CERTIFICATE OF
SECRETARY
I, the undersigned, do hereby certify;
That I am duly elected and acting secretary of the Cranbury
Township Environmental Commission and,
That the foregoing minutes of the Environmental Commission,
held on May 16, 2005 consisting of 3 pages, constitute a true and correct copy
of the minutes of the said meeting.
IN WITNESS
WHEREOF, I have hereunto subscribed the name of said Environmental Commission
the June 20, 2005.
______________________________________
Linda M. Scott, Secretary