-September 1,1999
-6:30 PM
-Freeholder Meeting Room, County Administration Building

 -Presentation by Dennis Miranda, Director, New Jersey Conservation Foundation

A. Open Space referendum was placed on ballot because:

(1) Passaic County contains some of the greatest natural resources in the state.

(2) Quality of life issues.

(3) Open space wish list created by various entities.

(4) Municipalities passed resolutions supporting an open space trust fund.

(5) In 1997, two pieces of enabling legislation, the creation of an open space trust fund and the creation of a trust fund for recreational lands in urban areas, supported the placing of the ballot on the referendum.

B.       In the past several weeks, Mr. Miranda has visited several parks in Passaic County and has noticed the dramatic recovery of Third Ward Park in the City of Passaic. Reference was also made to the seven acre ATP tract adjacent to the Passaic River and Great Falls in Paterson, which is facing development Pressures. Development in West Milford, Ringwood and other up-county municipalities may very well threaten sensitive areas in those communities as well.

C. The Passaic County Open Space Trust Fund

- Protecting open space for water resources should be the number one priority.

- Secondly, protecting the Highlands floral and faunal diversity is critical.

- However, due to the large populations in the County's three cities and the ---budgetary constraints faced by these local governments, the maintenance and improvement of recreational and open space opportunities should not be overlooked. The County Trust Fund can provide moneys to these urban communities as well.

- The opportunity for acquisition of floodplain and wooded areas exists in the older suburbs as well. Reference was made to the 14 acre tract off Wilmore Road in Little Falls.

In the late 1980's, Passaic County purchased Tranquillity Ridge, along the West Milford / Ringwood border for 9 million dollars. It is among the largest tracts of public open space in the Highlands portion of Passaic County. Other county tracts include Apshawa and San Cap, both in West Milford.
 
 

E. Other Areas Where the NJ Conservation Foundation has been involved in Open Space Acquisition

(1) Bergen County - assisted the Bergen County Open Space Fund in acquiring over 22 acres (5 million dollars) in Old Tappan and Haworth, preserving part of the Hackensack River watershed lands.

(2) Camden County - Assisted the Camden County Environmental Commission in creating an. open space trust fund and subsequently, the Camden Greenways. The NJ Conservation foundation also acquired property along rivers for the Camden Greenways Project in 1995 for a linear park corridor. The Camden Greenways can serve as a model for greenway preservation and trail construction in New Jersey's urban cities. Moneys for trail construction also came from NJDOT.

(3) Middlesex and Union Counties - Established the Arthur Kill Coalition as a clearing house and advocacy group to persuade municipal leaders to preserve open space leading to the Arthur Kill Watershed. In 1998, Edison township created a municipal open space trust and set aside money to preserve flood plains.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

F. The Committee may also want to think about using "Brownfields" money for the creation of pocket parks in Passaic County cities. County funds can be used in conjunction with state moneys. The City of Trenton has been very progressive in this endeavor, creating public parks on the sites of old industrial tracts.

-Discussion

(comment: W. Brennan) Spoke on the status of the 14 acre site off of Wilmore Road in

Little Falls. Dennis Miranda made the suggestion that this may be something Passaic

County and the Committee may want to get involved with.

 

(comment: J. Rogers) The challenge facing the Committee will be establishing goals, objectives and priorities. The focus must be on leveraging various sources of funding, including local, county, state, federal and non-profit sources, among others.

 

(comment: D. Miranda) With regards to the Open Space Plan, areas for passive and active recreation must be identified down county, and to a lesser extent up county, however, watershed protection is critical up county. GIS mapping sources should be sought from as many entities as possible, including DEP and non-profits.

 

(question: W. Brennan) Can benefit/charity concerts be held to raise money for the trust fund?

(answer: D. Miranda) Yes, although that has not been done to date in NJ. As many sources of funding that can be sought should be sought.

(question: J. Rogers) Where can the NJ Conservation Foundation assist our committee?

(answer: D. Miranda) The NJ Conservation Foundation can play an advisory role to the committee. In addition to attending meetings, Mr. Miranda can research some topics and act as liaison with up county municipal leaders.

 

(question: P. Rocca) How is prioritization and applications from urban areas weighed?

(answer: 0. Miranda) Within a framework of judging applications, urban areas get lenient terms for repayment on loans and more money for grants. A few years back, under the Federal Urban Parks Resource Recovery Program, the County was able to secure funds for improvements at Goffle Brook and Weasel Brook Parks.

(comment: 0. Miranda) Open Space Inventory is a very important aspect of the Plan. This committee needs to identify the criteria that will establish the parameters for what will be acquired or upgraded and improved. In the lower county, that maybe urban parks, athletic fields and improvements to existing parks, whereas, upcounty identifying open space may hinge on protecting water resources. The committee should also utilize the resources of non-profits like the Weis Ecology Center, Passaic River Coalition and the NJ Conservation Foundation when conducting the Open Space Inventory.

-Raising the Tax
 

(comment: R. Fortino) The Committee should ask the Freeholders to raise the tax from 1/10 of cent, which is what is being levied now, to between a haifa cent to 2 cents, which will make the County eligible to participate in the Garden State Preservation Trust Program. The Freeholders should be made aware that the Committee is recommending the tax be raised to two cents.

 

(comment: J. Rogers) The tax would have to be raised in January, as all the municipal budgets have already been adopted. Freeholders cart increase the tax for the 2000 budget, however, this should not prevent the county from submitting applications while in the process of constructing an open space plan.

 

(comment: J. Rogers) The staff will hi-lite features of the enabling legislation that provides for the Trust Fund. This document will be made available to the Committee and also posted on the web site.

-Presentation by Laura Szak (Morris Land Conservancy)

A. Planning Incentive Grant Program - 50/50 grant program open to counties that have already submitted or are in the process of submitting an open space plan. A county has one to two years to submit the plan to the Green Acres Program

B. Flexibility is important when working with landowners.

C. The Morris Land Conservancy has offered to work on an Open Space Plan that will meet the Green Acres requirements for a minimal fee, however they do not have any GIS capabilities and would utilize the assistance of the NJ League of Environmental Commissions. The Morris Land Conservancy has done plans for the municipalities of Parsippany/Troy Hills and PeapacklGladstone in Morris County.
 
 
 

- Rules Sub-Committee Report

A.             The first draft was distributed at this meeting the Committee's review.

B.              The rules in the draft incorporate basic elements of the Morris and Warren County Rules and Regulations.

C.              P. Tidwell has worked on a mission statement which was made available to the Committee for their review.

(comment: J. Pogorelic) Please submit any suggestions regarding the Draft Rules and Regulations to John Pogorelic no later than September 24, 1999. This sub-committee will reconvene at the end of September.

-Planning Subcommittee Report

A. To date, we have received one response from Wayne regarding local community priorities. This is the only municipality to submit a response. Committee members may want to reach out to local officials in their communities and gauge their views.

B. A compilation of recreation and open space needs is provided to the Committee for their information. The information was taken from the most recent Master Plans and updates.

C. A tentative timetable, with milestones, was finalized for the Planning subcommittee as follows:
 

-advertise Request For Proposal (RFP), identify and select list of qualified

  consultants that will respond to RFP

- set deadline for responses

- review by sub-committee

- short list the responses

- conduct interviews of shortlist consultants

- come back to committee with findings and recommendation

- ask Freeholders to award contract to consultant

D. The Committee is better served by having a plan in place. The County will qualify for more favorable funding ratios by going through this process. If everything goes according to schedule, a full blown plan may be in place by the spring.
 
 
 

-Presentation by Kathy Baker of Skylands Clean

A. Skylands Clean concentrate their Passaic County effort in Pompton Lakes, Wanaque, Ringwood, Bloomingdale and West Milford.

B. Currently working with Green acres.

C. The organization has some money, approximately half a million dollars and can come up with close to a million dollars. They will soon be entertaining proposals from land owners.
 

D. Committee should not lock out ideas that may be useful down the road. Municipal trust funds, easements, and non-profits are all sources of financial assistance. It is also important to base acquisition decisions on sound planning and logic.
 

Liaison Sub-Committee

A new sub-committee to act as a liaison between this committee and Non-Profit organizations was formed at the meeting. Sub-committee members will include:
 

-Robert Bloodgood

-Ray Egatz

-Sandra Lawson

-Tom Sergi (Tom will also be a member of the Planning Sub-Committee)