MINUTES OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION

November 14, 2001

* Indicates Absent Member
** Indicates Excused Absence

Susan Knauf moved and Robert Sommers seconded acceptance of the excused absences, all in favor.

Approval of October 3, 2001 Minutes - Susan Knauf moved to approve, Robert Sommers seconded, all in favor.

Bills Outstanding - No bills to date.

Old Bridge Day - The open space survey will be left in the Library and the Township Information desk. Susan Knauf suggests that the survey be put on the web page.

Old Bridge Grants -Blanche Hoffman reported that the Township will be putting all their information on GIS. The OBEC will merge its data into the Township data. Susan Knauf asked who in the Township will be responsible for the GIS project and what monies of the OBEC grant will be used?

It was suggested that Tom Sommers be invited to attend the next OBEC meeting with a technical scope.

Blanche Hoffman will submit by November 20th the 2002 grant for developing Greenway Education and Proposed Acquisition Plan.

The Greenway Phase III grant was withdrawn.

Motion to approve resubmission of matching grant for $2,500 for Greenway Education and Proposed Acquisition plan was moved by Susan Knauf seconded by Robert Sommers, all in favor.

ANJEC 2001 Environmental Congress - Report from Andrew Crabb

Workshop Session I: Water Supply, Public Trust Resource Misplaced?
There were two speakers for this presentation. Dave Peifer from the Upper Raritan Watershed Association spoke first about the nature of New Jersey's water supply as a public trust resource. Unlike western states, water in New Jersey belongs to the public. Water rights are not conveyed with property purchase. Mr. Peifer discussed how the trust doctrine is similar to a financial trust, held by a trustee (the State) to provide for the beneficiaries (the residents of New Jersey). He emphasized that the beneficiaries of the trust must monitor the trustees to make sure that the trust will continue to pay dividends in the future, minimizing "withdrawals" and maximizing "gains" for the benefit of the trust.

New Jersey's hydraulic plan describes the state-wide plan for managing water resources. Every resident is allowed reasonable use, which is defined as 100,000 gallons per day, without a water allocation permit. Many water users report 99,999 gallons per day usage so as to not require a permit. Often there is little effort to confirm the accuracy of such reports.
The second speaker, Tracy Carluccio of the Delaware Riverkeeper spoke to the state of water allocation in New Jersey. Ms. Carluccio stressed the importance of developing the following approach:

Take stock of our water resources and evaluate current use. Currently there is no accurate picture of what is there and what is being used. Current allocation procedures do not match use. Over allocation of water to single users (relative to actual use) is a problem, as is hoarding of allocations.

Determine the safe and sustainable yield. Ms. Carluccio stated that this should be a technical evaluation designed to protect the watershed. Current technical measures, such as "Q7/10" allow water levels to fall too low and push us toward drought. Better methods exist and should be used. Agricultural certificates, especially for recently emphasized horticultural applications will lead to more demand on the water supply, even in areas where water appears plentiful now. Ms. Carluccio indicated that current DEP policy may be misguided, yielding to political pressures and allowing existing regulations to be applied in a non-uniform manner (especially with respect to golf courses).

Develop a water budget. Currently there are some areas of the state where 50% of water is used for lawn sprinkler systems. Discussion was presented around this topic and possible zoning rules to prevent this from happening, such as minimizing lot sizes, forbidding automatic sprinkler systems, requiring native plants that demand less water. Also, emphasizing public open space over private open space. As an example, a forest does not need to be watered.

Some policy issues brought to light include those that lead to encouragement of heavy water use, typically through quantity discounts. Such policies were designed to encourage development to pay for development bonds.

Develop and maintain a strategy to implement and maintain the water budget. We need well head protection areas and a commitment to make hard political decisions to make a technically developed water management plan workable.

Workshop Session II: Transportation and Smart Growth
Three speakers presented at this session. First, Ellen Davenport of the Maplewood Twp Committee discussed the implementation of a Jitney service to eliminate the need for a large parking garage at Maplewood's NJ Transit rail station. By raising the price of parking passes and offering low cost local Jitney service to correspond to train schedules, Maplewood has been able to reduce the need for extra parking, make Maple wood more "walkable", and allowed many residents to forgo second cars. NJ Transit offered funding to assist with the project startup costs. While NJ Transit was doubtful of this solution at the start, they have come around to being supportive. Jitney service requires a commitment from the municipality to maintaining schedules and being dependable, no matter what happens, since riders depend on the Jitney to make their commutes successful and will revert to cars if the Jitney is not dependable.

Second, Christopher Hellwig of the Randolph Planning and Zoning Department presented how Randolph has developed bikeways and paths through public property and green spaces as a way of allowing the community to participate in open space. Almost all of Randolph's schools are connected by the trails, and a number of residents take advantage of the trails for both recreational and transportation purposes. Randolph residents appear to consider the project to be a success.

Finally, Roger Tees of the Pleasantville Urban Enterprise Zone spoke about Pleasantville's efforts to use public funds to improve their public transportation resources. Pleasantville successfully leveraged DOT and UEZ funding to help NJ Transit develop a rail shuttle service to Atlantic City on an old freight line. Mr. Tees discussed how NJDOT and Transit have planning offices that help write plans. South Orange, South Amboy, Rutherford, Pleasantville and one other city have been designated as towns where transit efforts will be focused. Ted Matthews of the NJDOT Bureau of Freight, Rails, Ports, and Terminals was identified as one of the key DOT contacts when it comes to project funding.

Mr. Tees emphasized that there has been a lot of planning going on, at the federal, state, county, and municipal levels. Often, retuning a project to make it more in line with these plans will greatly improve the prospects for obtaining funding. Mr. Tees stated that the bureaucracy is in place to spend public funds. If you find the right people who control the funds and offer them a project that will help them attain their objectives and therefore "look good", you can make a lot of things happen. However, if you do not follow through with demonstrating results, your chances for future funding become greatly reduced.

Reappointment to Commission

Blanche Hoffman will send a memo the Mayor on behalf of herself, Owen Henry, Gary Szelc and Andrew Crabb on their reappointment to the OBEC.

Blanche Hoffman presented a memo from Sam Rizzo asking the OBEC for input to the latest revision of the Land Development Ordinance. After discussion by the OBEC a memo will be sent with the Commissions suggestions as follows: visual aesthetic appearance and landscaping along major corridors needs improvement; no general developments thta go on forever, there has to be a time limit; no variances within watersheds because of flood zones and impact on natural resources; a development of 100 units should have public transport available; if the train station is a reality, consider ample parking, regional approach expansion of parking garage with small shops suitable for commuters, i.e. dry cleaner, coffee shop, newsstand; minimize parking via a jitney service, this could be a local bus service to reduce the need for parking and widening of roads.

Planning and Zoning -

83-01Z Northwood Manor
The OBEC will submit recommendations to the Zoning Board regarding the application that a variance not be granted due to the existing zoning proximity to a watershed.

96-00P The Woods (Royal Realty)
The OBEC have no comments.

9:55 pm - motion to adjourn the meeting was moved by Owen Henry, seconded by Robert Sommers, all in favor.

Township of Old Bridge
1 Old Bridge Plaza
Old Bridge, NJ 08857
Main Phone: 732-721-5600