Mountain Lakes Environmental Commission

February 2, 2005 Meeting Minutes

 

Attending: Armen Melikian, Ray Rogers, Laurel Durenberger, Christopher Stitt, Murray Robertson, Jeana Macleod, Paul Shorb, Tom Carr, Council Liaison Louise Davis

 

Administrative:

The meeting was called to order at 7:35 p.m.  Minutes for the January meeting were presented and approved with minor corrections.

 

It was agreed that as a general practice going forward, if draft EC minutes could be circulated via email well in advance of the next EC meeting, EC members would be expected to review them before the next meeting, and the minutes would then be voted on at the beginning of that meeting (i.e., without taking time at the meeting for EC members to then read through the draft minutes).

 

On February 12th from 9-11 a.m. an orientation meeting will be held at Borough Hall – all commission & committee members who have not already attended such a session are invited, as well as all chairpersons.

 

EC membership: The open seat on the EC was discussed.  Prospective member Todd Terhune has a professional activity on the first Wednesday of each month (except for the summer months) that would cause him to miss the first hour or so of the EC meeting. Todd joined the meeting about 8:30, and volunteered to work on the Car Spa project (discussed below). . The EC and Todd decided to wait a month or so before deciding whether to recommend his appointment.

 

Wetlands delineation: Notice was received in the EC in-box that NJDEP will perform a wetlands delineation for the vacant property at the corner of Boulevard and N. Glen Rd.  After discussion the EC determined that it has no action to take on that notice.

 

Deer Management: Paul Shorb talked to Carl Cavalho from DMS who said he doesn’t believe the bait sites were sabotaged.   He thinks we have culled most of the resident deer (i.e., deer who bed and feed within the Borough), and that the additional deer that we would expect to see based on the 2003 infrared aerial survey are “commuter” deer who aren’t in our Borough during the permitted culling hours.  DMS therefore does not recommend that we resume culling this winter.  He expressed interest in seeing the results of the aerial survey that the Borough will have done in February or March.

 

Actions: 

 

Eco-hike:  The Woodlands Committee now has two additional members. Laurel called its chair, Jerry Uhrig, to discuss the hike, and agreed on April 23rd as the prospective date for an associated event, such as a dedication ceremony for the trail. Work continues on plans for the hike this year, though several EC members expressed concern about the tight deadline.  Tentative plans were made to publish info on the hike in the April H&SA Bulletin.

Actions: 

 

Goose Egg Addling:  Gary Webb told Paul that the Borough should decide by mid-March whether to again hire the USDA to addle our eggs.  A poll of current EC members found only one volunteer prepared to do so. The EC therefore decided to recommend that USDA again perform the addling.

Action:  Paul will call Gary and report the above EC recommendation.

 

Riparian Plantings/Invasives:  Jeana spoke with Laurence Molloy of the Lakes Mgmt. Committee (“LMC”). As he suggested, Jeana will talk with Susan Ferguson of the LMC to coordinate efforts by the EC and the LMC regarding what riparian plants should and should not be planted.  Permission was given by the EC for Jeana to pursue a grant from the Garden Club of Somerset Hills to remove the Japanese Barberry at the cove.

Actions: 

 

Omnibus Education Piece Outline: 

Actions:

 

Wellhead Protection Ordinance: Louise sent the information to the Soil Conservation District for review and comment.

Action: Louise will advise the EC at its March 2 meeting about Council interest in developing a new wellhead protection ordinance. 

 

Stormwater: Louise reported that Mark Prusina needs to get through the Borough and Board of Education budgeting process before he can focus again on the NJ stormwater actions required by DEP.  There is an April 1 deadline for several actions by the Borough; Prusina plans to provide an action plan to the Council in April (i.e., it seems that the Borough will miss the April 1 deadlines).

Action: Louise will give the EC an update at the March 2 meeting.

 

King of Kings Property:  Louise asked for letters of recommendation supporting the Mt. Lakes Conservancy’s funding application, due in two weeks, to the New Jersey “Green Acres” program. The EC voted unanimously to send such a latter, as note din the action item below.

Action:  Paul will draft a support letter and send via e-mail to EC members for comment, then send final to Louise on behalf of the EC by the middle of next week.

 

EC Website:  Tom got the website source code from Emily Wolfe and was able to create upload a sample first page for the EC website, with a style newly conforming to that of the rest of the Borough website. Jeana so far has drafted summaries of five Borough ordinances related to the environment. Ray is continuing to review and update the text of the old NRI.

Actions: 

 

DPW:  Tom reported that Mark Prusina is overloaded with budgeting, so no additional EC-DPW meeting has been scheduled.

 

Planning Board:  An application was received for a business to be called Mountain Lakes Auto Spa (at the palm reader location on Rte. 46).  The original application was denied by the Board of Adjustment as a non-conforming use, but that decision was overturned on appeal, reportedly on the basis that the Auto Spa would conform if no hazardous materials were discharged.  The Planning Board now must approve or disapprove the “site plan” application, and is asking for EC comments before its next meeting on February 17. However, Armen only recently received the Environmental Impact Statement and other key factual documents, so it is impractical for the EC to act officially before then (since EC decisions may only be made at a meeting with prior public notice.)

Actions: 

 

Adjourned at 10:00 pm.

 

Next meeting: March 2, 2005, 7:30 p.m., Mountain Lakes Borough Hall