HOPATCONG ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION

AUGUST 27, 2003

The meeting of the Hopatcong Environmental Commission was opened by Mary Takacs at 7:45 p.m. with a statement that this meeting is held in accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act, N.J.S.A. 10:4-1 et seq., annual notice having been forwarded to The New Jersey Herald, The Daily Record and The News-Leader and posted on the bulletin board maintained in the Municipal Building for public announcements.

ROLL CALL:

PRESENT: Marty Janowski

Elizabeth Mauro

Mercedes Walker

Mary Takacs

ABSENT: Bernice Gleason

Steve Guerriero

Connie Janowski

Also in attendance were Judy Keith, Michael Livesey and Margaret McGarrity from the Byram Environmental Commission.

Mary Takacs led the Salute To The Flag.

APPROVAL OF THE JULY 23, 2003 MINUTES

Elizabeth Mauro made a motion to approve the July 23, 2003 minutes. Mercedes Walker seconded the motion and all were in favor.

OLD BUSINESS

Mary Takacs announced that she wrote a letter to Governor McGreevey requesting money for the Environmental Commission. The Governor’s respond was that there wasn’t enough money for a grant.

On October 25, 2003 there will be a workshop for Designing for Environment at the Bush Campus. The discussion will be about sprawling towns and what to do with building inward. See Mary Takacs if anyone is interested

The Environmental Commission received a thank you note from the Seniors at the Civic Center for the plants.

The bat house has been installed at the Sanctuary by Troop 549.

Mary sent a letter to Mayor and Council regarding the damage occurring due to the sewer project.

The Commission did not get to view the site behind Mark Gruber’s office but maybe it will be possible next week to see it.

Stephen Kessel called the DEP about the drainage from the sewer project going into Lake Hopatcong from dirt deposits. The contractor put straw around the dirt pile to keep the dirt from draining.

Assemblyman Guy R. Gregg has sent our community, Mayor and Council an application for the Statewide Livable Communities Grant Fund Program.

ANJEC sent an e-mail to Mary Takacs regarding LOI (Letters of Interpretation). The DEP has asked ANJEC to learn how many towns require LOIs in their application checklist ordinance.

HAZMAT

July 25, 2003 - 134 Monroe Tr., 1/550 gal. tank removed, cleanup pending.

STATUS REPORTS

Open Space - Elizabeth Mauro reported that 808 bricks have been sold and most of them have been installed at Maxim Glen Park, and on July 20, 2003 there was the dedication to the opening of the park. Open Space authorized $8500.00 for the beautification of Veteran’s Way. The senior citizen restricted housing project, approximately 140 acres of the total 294 acre site will be open space because of wetlands or buffers.

Water - Marty Janowski reported that there was no way to do the water testing because there was a tractor trailer parked, and buffers were in the site’s way.

Mercedes Walker reported that she is working on a paper that would tie in real well with the sprawling conference. Mercedes is also taking a course to better identify what is in the trails.

Planning Board - Marty Janowski reported there is an application for a new building next to Get Potted for offices and a Laundromat.

NEW BUSINESS

If anyone wants to join the National Arbor Day Foundation, see Mary Takacs.

Starting on September 3rd to the 24th, 2003 on Wednesdays on Channel 13 at 8:00 p.m. the program is called The Sacred Balance. The purpose of the program is to learn how to share the planet with other creatures.

There is a workshop on Non-Regulated Compounds in Water on October 3, 2003.

Cliff Lundin, a long time MWA Trustee, was nominated for a third term.

The Commission received a printout of the New Jersey Flows by the NJ Water Resources Research Institute. See Mary Takacs if interested in reading about this.

There is a program available to the Tulsa Trail School featuring The Lizard Guys. Mary is going to get more information on this program.

NJDEP has established the New Jersey Department of Environmental Excellence Awards Program. Mary has the forms for this program.

TRAILS CONFERENCE

Bob Moss, Linda Hubbard and Lois DeVris attended the meeting and presented a Trails Conference to the Environmental Commission. The purpose of this conference is to discuss the connection of our Nature Trails with Byram.

ADJOURN

Mercedes Walker made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:00 p.m. Elizabeth Mauro seconded the motion and all were in favor.

Respectfully submitted,

Marie Filoso

Recording Secretary